


EOTW: Novella Three: Penny's Faith

by Jayie_The_Hufflepuff



Series: Warriors: Series 5.5: Echoes of the War [9]
Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-11
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2019-02-01 00:02:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 34,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12692886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jayie_The_Hufflepuff/pseuds/Jayie_The_Hufflepuff
Summary: The murderous Scorch has not been seen in Twolegplace since her exile, but the consequences of her treachery are still felt. With hostilities rising, Penny finds herself increasingly suspicious of the cats she had once trusted. When the cat she loves most pushes her away, Penny must ask - has Scorch’s betrayal shattered her faith in her Society?





	1. Allegiances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allegiances for Penny's Faith.

Penny's Faith Allegiances

**THE SOCIETY OF THE STREET**

 

**LEADER**

SUNNY – tiny flame-colored tabby she-cat with one white paw and ice-blue eyes

**COUNCIL**

TALLY - lanky ginger she-cat with white legs and dark amber eyes  
BLINK – ginger tabby tom with a tooth-spiked collar and one gray eye  
SNUGGLE – large black-and-white tom with green eyes  
SHY – sleek black tom with golden eyes  
SNIFF – dark gray tabby tom with a perpetual sniffle  
SUNBEAM – cream tabby she-cat with white paws  
TAWNY – tawny she-cat with a torn ear and green eyes  
PENNY – red-brown tabby she-cat with thick fur  
BEETLE – silver tabby tom with yellow eyes  
SPECKLEFUR – speckled brown tabby tom with green eyes

**HEALERS**

ICICLE – sturdy, sleek-furred, pale gray tom with blue eyes  
BRIGHT – pale cream tabby she-cat with amber eyes  
BARB – spiky-furred black she-cat with pale green eyes  
TWILIGHT – blue-gray she-cat with amber eyes and a green collar  
SWIPE – scrawny gray she-cat with green eyes  
SPOOKY – skinny black tom with pale yellow eyes, formerly a loner

**BORDER GUARDS**

SNOWFLAKE – tiny, thick-furred white she-cat with yellow eyes  
CLOUDY – pale gray-and-white she-cat with blue eyes  
PRICKLE – spiky-furred light brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes  
SCRUFF – scruffy dark gray tabby tom with ice-blue eyes  
HUBCAP – dark gray tom with pale green eyes  
DOVE – pale gray she-cat with green eyes  
SYKES – gray tabby-and-white tom with one missing ear and amber eyes, formerly a rogue  
SPIRIT – yellow tabby tom with amber eyes

**SELF-RELIANTS**

SHADOW - dark gray tom with golden eyes  
DRIP - small gray-and-white tom with pale blue eyes  
FLASH – bright ginger tom with yellow eyes  
ASH - pale gray tabby she-cat with green eyes  
HAZELNUT – plump brown tabby she-cat with a white chest and muzzle and pale green eyes, formerly a kittypet  
MINERVA – dusty brown tabby she-cat with pale green eyes, formerly a kittypet  
SOOT – tiny black she-cat with one white paw and golden eyes  
MOUSETRAP – gray tabby tom with a white chest and amber eyes, formerly a rogue  
BOXER – large dark gray tom with one missing ear and pale green eyes, formerly a rogue  
PUDDLE – black-and-white tom with blue eyes  
CHATTER – brown tabby tom with golden eyes and a white chest  
BRINDLE – brown tabby she-cat with thin stripes and yellow eyes  
SKIP – scrawny ginger tabby tom with green eyes  
OPAL – tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with hazel eyes  
HOPSCOTCH – light brown tabby tom with white and with crossed yellow eyes, former kittypet  
PEGGY – ginger tabby she-cat with yellow eyes

**TRAINEES**

SPARKPLUG – light ginger tabby she-cat with a white chest, chin, paws, forehead marking, and green eyes  
EMBER – ginger tabby tom with yellow eyes  
FELIX – cream tabby tom with a white chest marking and yellow eyes  
OWL – small dark gray tabby she-cat with one white paw and golden eyes

**ELDERS**

SNIPE - tortoiseshell tom with a tooth-spiked collar  
DELILAH – pale ginger tabby she-cat with a white chest and green eyes, formerly a kittypet  
LOTUS – flame-colored ginger-and-white tabby she-cat with amber eyes, formerly a kittypet  
TOOTH - gray tom with yellow eyes and a tooth-spiked collar  
GLASS - large dark gray tabby tom with pale green eyes  
SONG - a tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with green eyes  
MAX - plump ginger tom with gray eyes  
RAT - scruffy brown tabby she-cat with green eyes  
TIRE - black she-cat with yellow eyes and one ear torn away

 

**CATS OUTSIDE OF THE SOCIETY**

ANGELICA – tortoiseshell she-cat with yellow eyes, kittypet  
TUCKER – black-and-white tom with yellow eyes, kittypet  
COCONUT – brown tabby tom with green eyes, kittypet  
OSCAR – gray-and-white she-cat with yellow eyes, kittypet  
OLIVIA – tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes, kittypet  
ISOBEL – sleek cream she-cat with dark brown points and blue eyes, kittypet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here are the allegiances for Penny's Faith, the newest novella for the EOTW series. As you can see, there have been quite a few changes, and some additions to the ranks of the Society. As you can see from the title, this book will be focusing on Penny.
> 
> This book takes place six months after Scorch's exile, which places it around the start of Waning Moon, at the start of leafbare around when Silentstorm and Blazeheart were made warriors. I've got the first chapter written, so I'll post that in a moment, but you might have to wait on more chapters. I want to focus on my original work.
> 
> Several of the new cats have been named after characters from other works. Angelica is named after Angelica Schuyler, specifically her portrayal in Hamilton (yay, now I have all three of the Schuyler sisters in my story ^^), Sykes is named after the dog from Midsomer Murders 'cause I've been binging that show like mad, Spirit is named after Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (if I didn't already say that last time), and Minerva is named after my cousin's cat, who is named after Minerva McGonagall from Harry Potter.


	2. Chapter One

Warriors Series 5.5: Echoes of the War  
Novella 3: Penny's Faith  
Chapter One

     Silver shafts of moonlight fell upon the smooth gray stone of the twoleg paths. The red bricks of the twoleg dens were a dull silver, and the shadows they cast fell long and dark over the stone. Two forms slipped through the shadows, silent and sure as they rounded a corner into a narrow alley. The larger of the cats held a magpie between her teeth, its wings hanging limply past her chin. Both cats came to a halt in the shadow of the cracked walls of the twoleg den. The larger cat dropped her catch, each cat settling on either side of the magpie as they began to dig in.

     The brown tabby paused after her first bite. A bitter taste greeted her the moment the magpie flesh touched her tongue. She hesitated, her lip curling as the tang of the magpie spread through her mouth. But her companion was watching her, and she didn't want to be rude in refusing to eat her friend's catch. So she forced herself to swallow, then reached her muzzle forward and took another bite of the foul-tasting bird. She tried to keep her companion's grief in mind, reminding herself that she couldn't hurt her feelings tonight of all nights, not when her kin had just passed away. Eating some off prey would be worth making her feel better.

     Suddenly, something in her stomach clenched. She stepped back in a sharp movement. Something was wrong. Her gut was twisting and writhing inside of her, pain like a thousand claws tearing her apart from the inside with every breath. It was all wrong, all terribly wrong. A strangled gasp escaped her. “What...?”

     The tabby tried to take a step forward, but everything was starting to feel heavy, and her body wasn't obeying her anymore. Her legs buckled, sending her stumbling forward onto her chest. Agony was shooting through every muscle. Foam began to build at her jaws as she fought to draw air into lungs that felt tighter and tighter with every breath. Any rational thought was quickly being blotted our by sheer, blinding terror. She couldn’t breathe. Why couldn’t she breathe? Her claws flew out, scraping uselessly against the pavement in her fight to do something, anything, to end this terrible pain.

     Wild with panic, she gazed desperately around her for help. Her terrified gaze eventually fell on her companion. “H...help me...” she managed to gasp out, spittle flying from her frothing jaws.

     But the other cat made no move to help. Instead, she sat with an air of eerie calm. Her gray pelt had turned a forbidding, blinding silver in the harsh light of the moon, and her massive frame of muscle and fur cast a sharp shadow over the struggling tabby. Two narrowed golden eyes stared the tabby down, as cold and indifferent as stars, glowing dimly in the growing darkness. Horrible understanding began to dawn on the dying tabby. _She did this._ The tabby tried to cry out, but all that escaped her was a strangled whimper. _I trusted her..._

     The tabby made a final effort to stand, to flee the monstrous creature before her, but her body was heavy and useless as stone. All she managed was a feeble twitching of her limbs. As her mind slipped away into darkness, the last thing the tabby saw were the merciless golden eyes of her murderer, staring down at her, waiting for her prey to succumb to its final struggles...

     “Penny?”

     The tabby jerked awake, a choked gasp escaping her. For a moment, the terror of her dream lingered. A massive cat stood in front of her, and for a heartbeat, all she could see was a scarred gray pelt and golden eyes as cold as the stars. Then, her bleary vision began to clear, and she was able to recognize the black-and-white pelt of her denmate. Snuggle stood in front of her, not with golden eyes, but with green eyes that were soft with concern. “Are you alright, Penny?” he asked in a gentle mew. “You were crying out in your sleep again.” She could see cats looking up from their nests, the other members of the Council being woken by the cries of their denmate.

     Penny gave her head a quick shake, trying to cast off the feeling of unease from her dream. “I'm fine,” she answered in a clipped mew. She could see some of her denmates glancing back at her, and a few were grumbling. “It was just a bad dream. Nothing serious”

     “Then could you be a bit quieter about it next time?” a silver tabby a few nests away grumbled. His yellow eyes were still narrowed groggily. “Some of us are actually trying to sleep.” Penny could just barely see the amber glow of the rising sun filtering through the windows of the Council Home. It was just the start of dawn.

     Sniff looked up from his nest, glaring at the tabby. “No need to be unkind about it, Beetle,” he chided the younger tom. Beetle just snorted, turning over in his nest and curling into a tighter ball. After Cobweb succumbed to a sudden chest infection three moons ago, his brother Tooth had decided to retire, leaving two spots open on the Council. Beetle and Specklefur had been chosen as their replacements. Beetle was well known for his sharp tongue, but he was surprisingly patient with the trainees and elders of the Society. Specklefur was in the nest beside Beetle's, blinking blearily as she gazed at her denmates.

     “He has a point,” Tawny pointed out. She sat up in her nest, her green eyes narrowed thoughtfully as she gazed at Penny. “You have been having these dreams a lot lately, and you wake up looking like you've seen the ghost of Scourge every time.”

     Annoyance sparked through Penny. “Well, that's my business, isn't it?” she sniffed, pulling her ears back against her head.

     “Not when the rest of us are trying to sleep,” a small ginger tabby grumbled. Ember and his sister Sparkplug had their own nests on the far side of the den, with the other trainees. Felix was still asleep in his nest, and Owl was slowly blinking awake in hers. The youngest of the trainees had been born in the Council Home, as her parents, Ash and Shy, both lived there since Shy was on the Council. Even though Owl had shared her mother's nest for many moons, she insisted on making her own nest with the other trainees once she started her training. Though Owl clearly loved her parents, she seemed determined not to receive any special treatment as the kits of a Council member.

     Tally stood from her nest, padding towards Penny. “We just want to help you, Penny,” she said in a gentle mew. Soft concern glowed in her amber eyes. “Do you want to talk about your dream? Maybe we could help somehow.” She came to stand beside Snuggle, who was still gazing at Penny with that gentle look of sympathy and worry in his eyes. Penny could see the same concern and empathy echoed in the eyes of her other denmates. Sunbeam was blinking slowly, worry glowing in her eyes, while Shy and Sniff were sharing a concerned glance. Even Blink, who could be fairly gruff most of the time, had nothing but concern in his remaining gray eye. From across the den, Penny could see a pair of ice-blue eyes staring at her, but she refused to meet their gaze.

     “Thank you for your concern,” she bit out through clenched teeth, still refusing to meet the gaze of her concerned denmates. “But I can handle this on my own.” Before anyone could object, Penny pushed herself out of her nest, sweeping past her surprised denmates as she bounded towards the den's entrance. The blasting wind of an early leafbare morning greeted her the moment she stepped outside, but she forced herself to ignore it, bounding off into the freshly-fallen snow even as her denmates called after her.

     The red-brown tabby bounded neatly across the thunderpath that wrapped around the Council Home, empty of monsters due to the early hour, following the path on the other side as it led her into the narrow, twisting alleys of twolegplace. She only slowed once the Council Home was completely lost from her sight. The freezing leafbare air buffeted at her side as she came to a halt, gasping in lungfuls of frosty air, winded from the effort of her run. The shadows of the twoleg den stretched far in the dim light of the early morning, casting her entirely in the shade. She could no longer hear the concerned cries of her denmates.

     As her panting subsided, Penny glanced all around her. Her running had taken her to one of the more remote areas of Twolegplace. The walls here were cracked and over-run with ivy and weeds. Various twoleg debris cluttered up the pavement, and a single twoleg could be seen, sitting and leaning against one of the far walls. When it noticed her, it flashed its stained teeth at her and made a few cooing noises, but otherwise made no move to approach her. Penny flattened her ears against her head, glancing uneasily at the twoleg as she scurried away, beginning to follow the twoleg path through the town.

     As she walked, Penny let her mind wander. The golden eyes that she had seen in her dream still haunted her thoughts, but she tried to ignore them. Six moons had passed since the treacherous Scorch had attempted to kill her with a poisoned magpie, and six moons had passed since Scorch had been exiled for her crime. The massive she-cat hadn't been seen in Twolegplace since her exile, but Penny still felt like she could feel the she-cat's breath on her ear sometimes, or hear her voice on the wind, or catch her scent in the places she had once walked. Though the healers had been able to save Penny before the deathberries had claimed her life, it had taken her some time to recover fully from the effects of the poisoning. Sometimes she felt like her lungs were closing again, and she had to take a few moments to remind herself that she was all better, and that the magpie couldn't hurt her anymore.

     Twolegplace had seen a lot of changes in the last few moons. Increased twoleg activity and building of some sort on a few of the busier streets had claimed the lives of a few self-reliants, and the recruitment of some local rogues and kittypets had been required to rebuild their numbers. Penny's mother Tire had retired to the elder's den with a case of stiff joints, and a few of the elders had already succumbed to sickness. With leafbare only just beginning, Penny worried what the effects of the cold season would have on her already-weakened Society.

     Her chest tightened as she remembered the most devastating loss the last few moons had cost her. Only a moon after Scorch's exile, Penny's mate, Bounce, had been found dead beside one of the streets that led out of the town. Penny had been absolutely shattered by the untimely death of her mate. Though Scorch had not been seen in Twolegplace since her exile, Penny couldn't bring herself to ignore the timing of her mate's death. She was so sure that the treacherous she-cat must have had something to do with Bounce's death, but most cats only looked at her with pity when she tried to explain it.

     She hated it, the pitying looks that cats sneaked her when they thought she wasn't looking, the condescending tones they took, as though speaking to a mouse-brained kit, the way they tried to divert any conversation about Scorch being involved. She had learned to keep her thoughts to herself, though staying quiet about it had not stopped her from stewing over the death of her mate, or how it had happened.

     Penny was suddenly distracted from her dark thoughts by the flutter of feathers, and the change in wind suddenly carrying a new scent her way. She could see a pigeon on the other side of the alley, picking at the snow with its beak in a vain search for food. Penny dropped immediately into a hunting crouch. She made her way silently across the alley, thanking the Cats of the Stars for the lack of monsters on the street this morning, and for the pigeon's distraction keeping it from seeing her. A few careful steps across the snow carried her closer and closer to the pigeon, until she was able to launch herself forward, taking the pigeon down in a flurry of feathers and claws. The bird didn't even get a chance to squawk before Penny had dispatched it with a quick nip to the spine.

     The tabby paused a moment, staring at her prey. Things like this, hunting for her Society, keeping herself focused on her work on the Council, helped distract her from what she had lost. But once the moment of the hunt was over, Penny could feel it all come crashing back down, and she remembered. She could feel her pelt starting to tremble, the memories starting to play all over again in her head, the golden glow of Scorch's eyes, Bounce's body stretched out on the street, the agonizing wailing of her daughter when she'd had to tell her about Bounce's death...

      _That's enough!_ Penny gave a sharp shake of her head, an irritated growl escaping her. She was a member of the Council, a respected position in the Society with responsibility and expectations. She couldn't lose herself to grief and fear every time the memories started to resurface. With a snort, she scooped the pigeon up in her jaws, then began trotting off. There was only one cat who could make her feel better when she got in this sort of state.

     The ginger tabby was still curled up in her nest underneath a set of stairs when Penny arrived. Penny brushed her muzzle against the tabby's shoulder, causing the younger cat to jerk awake. “Huh?” She lifted her muzzle, blinking blearily at the older she-cat. “Penny? What are you doing here?”

     Penny purred as she dropped the pigeon in front of the tabby. “Good morning, Peggy. I just wanted to say hello,” she mewed, brushing her muzzle against her daughter's. “I thought maybe we could share this. Leafbare's barely starting, and you're already starting to look too thin.”

     Peggy returned her mother's purr, but it seemed to lack conviction. “Stop fussing, mother,” she mewed, her jaws splitting in a yawn. “I'm about as well-fed as any cat is going to be in this kind of weather.” As her gaze began to grow less groggy, her eyes widened. “And it's barely even dawn!” The sun was beginning to climb higher in the sky at this point, but it still hadn't clear the tops of the twoleg dens. “Can't a cat get some sleep around here?”

     “Nothing wrong with getting the day started early!” Penny mewed in a tone of forced, brisk cheer. She settled on her haunches, pushing the pigeon towards Peggy with one paw. “I thought we could share this, then maybe we could go hunting together? I have some time before I have to help out with the trainees later – and it's never a bad idea to brush up on your skills, especially with leafbare starting.”

     Annoyance sparked in Peggy's yellow eyes. “I'm a self-reliant now, mother. I think I know how to take care of myself.” Without another word, she pushed herself to her paws, stalking past her mother even as Penny called after her. Within a few bounds, she was around the corner of the alley and out of Penny's sight.

     Penny watched after her even after she was gone from her sight, feeling an ache in her chest. Ever since Bounce's death, every time Penny tried to pull her daughter closer, Peggy pushed away. The little that was left of Penny's family was falling apart, and try as she might, she had no idea of how to fix it. Something had been broken the day that Scorch had tried to kill her, something had shifted out of place, and everything had been spiraling out of control ever since.

     All Penny could do was try to hold tight onto what she had left and try to ignore the rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, at long last, is the first chapter of the third novella for the EOTW series, Penny's Faith. ^^ I was actually gonna call it Penny's Hope for a while, but at the last moment I decided that Penny's Faith was more fitting. As you can see, we'll be focusing on Penny this time around. I won't say much more than that at the moment, you'll just have to wait and see. ^^ I want to focus more on my original work, so you might have to wait a while for the next chapter. We shall see.


	3. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A meeting is called for the Society.

Warriors Series 5.5: Echoes of the War  
Novella 3: Penny's Faith  
Chapter Two

     “This meeting is now in session.”

     Appreciative murmurs greeted Sunny's announcement from the cats within the Council Home. The tiny ginger she-cat sat atop the upturned garbage can she used to make her announcements from. The Council were all gathered in a semi-circle in front of their leader, while various other members of the Society were gathered in a crowd facing them. Penny could see her daughter sitting towards the back of the crowd, her eyes narrowed, her friends Opal and Sykes sitting beside her. A few other self-reliants were scattered through the crowds, as well as a couple of healers, and several of the border guards. All of them wore tense expressions, their gazes fixed on the Council before them.

     Sunny lifted her chin, calling out in a strong, clear voice to the cats gathered in front of her. “I have called this meeting today to address the concerns raised by several cats about the events of the last few days,” she announced. Penny kept her gaze fixed rigidly in front of her, not looking back at her leader. “At this time, I would like to invite any cat with a concern to speak their mind, so we can hear and discuss what can be done.”

     Various cats in the crowd began swapping uneasy glances, low murmurs rippling through the throng of cats. Finally, Cloudy stepped forward. “Several of our border guards have been attacked the last few days while doing their rounds in the southern part of twolegplace,” she announced in a clear mew. Penny could see a half-healed nick in the she-cat's ear, and Scruff was grooming a slice on his mate Dove's shoulder in the crowd. “Any time we pass the gardens of the local kittypets, our guards face unprovoked attacks. And these attacks have been increasing in frequency.”

     A few worried murmurs rose from the crowd, but not everyone seemed concerned. “What's everyone fussing about?” Penny heard one cat grumble. “It's just a couple of kittypets. How tough can they really be?” After a few moments of searching the crowd, she found the source of the words – Skip, one of the younger self-reliants. His friend Brindle sat beside him, her lip curled in an equal show of disdain.

     “Say that to my face, and you'll find out,” Hopscotch hissed from his spot in the crowd. Skip glared at the former kittypet, but didn't reply. A few other cats threw narrowed glances Skip's way, but Penny could hear some murmurs of agreement from others. Something in her gut clenched. Even with how closely the Society lived to many kittypets, and even with so many former kittypets among their ranks, the old prejudices were hard to quash. Sometimes it made her wonder if there was even any point in trying to make cats try to understand.

     Cloudy shot Skip an annoyed glance, then continued. “There haven't been any serious injuries so far, but it's clear that these kittypets, for whatever reason, mean us harm.”

     “And it's not just border guards,” Shadow called out. The aging self-reliant was sporting a slice on his graying muzzle. “Myself and some of the other self-reliants have been attacked as well when we tried to hunt in that area.”

     A young voice added, “We haven't been able to gather any herbs in that area since this started.” Penny could see Spooky standing in the crowd, frustration in the lash of the former loner's tail. “There are important herbs that we need in those gardens, but the kittypets keep chasing us off whenever we get anywhere near there now.”

     More and more cats began to call out, their stories of kittypet violence beginning to overlap each other. “Those kittypets are becoming a menace!” Spirit yowled, his yellow tail lashing.

     Mousetrap cried out, “The Council has to do something, or someone's going to get badly hurt!”

     “That's enough!” Slowly, the yowls of the crowd began to fade to low grumbles at Sunny's command. The tiny she-cat waited for silence to fall before continuing, “Thank you. Now, we must decide the best way to deal with this kittypet situation. I now ask the Council to share their thoughts on the matter.” Penny heard the authoritative sweep of Sunny's tail, the signal that the Council were allowed to add to the conversation, now that the rest of the Society had spoken.

     Murmuring sprang up among the Council members for a few moments. Sniff was the first to speak. “We haven't had problems with the kittypets in that area in the past,” the tom mewed slowly. “There must have been something that set this off.”

     “Maybe some new kittypet has moved into the area and has started stirring up the rest,” Blink suggested, a dark look in his eye. “Kittypets can be just as violent as any other sort of cat, and they can have prejudices as well.”

     “Or maybe there's something else, some recent sickness or loss, that is making them feel especially defensive right now,” Tally countered.

     Penny began to tune her fellow Council members out, letting her mind wander. There was a brisk sense of focus in their mews, a dedication to their work and to solving the problem set before them. Once, Penny had shared that drive to do her best for her Society, to take on every challenge in front of her with the same fire and desire to do good. Now it felt alien to her. She watched the proceedings in front of her with a sense of detachment, letting their words blur together into a low, dulled rumble of sounds. Instead of listening, she let her gaze sweep slowly over the crowd, taking in the faces of the cats of her Society.

     Cloudy was one of the first cats her gaze met. The senior border guard was still sitting towards the front of the crowd after having addressed the Council. She and her mate Drip had been the ones to find Penny that night, when Scorch had been trying to kill her. If it hadn't been for them, and the efforts of the healer Icicle, Penny would have died. She couldn't ignore the debt she owed them – but neither could she ignore their ties of kinship to Scorch. Cloudy and Icicle were the littermates of Sniff, who was Scorch's father. They couldn't have foreseen the consequences of saving Penny when they had done it. Did they resent her, now that her recovery had caused the exile of their kin? She searched Cloudy's gaze, wondering if the pale border guard would look her way. But Cloudy was still watching the rest of the Council, concern glowing in her blue eyes.

     Penny allowed her gaze to travel back to the other members of the Council. Snuggle and Shy stood together side by side, the former wearing an expression of concern, the latter with his usual, unreadable expression. They had been nothing but kind to her since the attempted murder, but Scorch had been the daughter of their beloved sister. Mustn't they feel something, some form of resentment, in Penny's role in Scorch being exiled? Sunbeam was sitting beside her sister, Tawny, something tight around her eyes, something glinting in her eyes that Penny couldn't read. She had been one of Scorch's best friends. How could she think nothing of the cat who got Scorch exiled? Sniff was towards the end of the semi-circle – Penny couldn't even meet his gaze these days. Scorch had been his daughter. He must hate her, how could he not? And yet he only ever played the part of the concerned friend. Penny couldn't believe that he felt nothing against her, and as long as he continued to pretend he didn't, she couldn't trust him.

     Scorch may have kept to herself most of the time, but she hadn't been a complete outsider before her exile. She'd had friends, she'd had family. She had been loved. Penny couldn't believe that all of her Society had taken Scorch's exile as easily at they pretended. Though she had tried to ignore it at first, she could feel an air of resentment against her growing with every passing day, as the one who had caused the exile of the leader's daughter. For the first time in her life, she felt not like a dedicated member of the Society, but like an outsider looking in, being pushed out by those who could no longer see her as one of them.

     A sudden, fierce burst of anger rose up inside of her. Her thoughts fell back onto the sight of Scorch, standing over her with eyes like ice, but it wasn't fear that Penny was feeling now. _You did this to me,_ she thought, a vicious snarl rising up inside of her. Penny had to fight to keep her face composed, to hide the torrent of emotions rising up inside of her. _And now, I don't even know who I can trust. If I ever see you again, I'll make you pay for this._

     Sunny's voice broke Penny out of her thoughts. “Then it's settled,” the leader announced in a firm mew. Penny blinked – she hadn't realized she had been lost in her thoughts for so long. “Snuggle and Shy will go to the kittypets and try to work this out in a peaceful manner. If all goes well, we will let the rest of the Society know. If not, we will meet again and proceed from there. This meeting is adjourned.” With a swift lash of her tail, Sunny brought the meeting to a close.

     Cats began to rise from their seats. Some made their way to the den's exit right away, but a few lingered, speaking in low voices to their companions. With a final glance towards her fellow Council members, Penny rose to her paws and began padding towards the dispersing crowd. As much as her doubt and worries had grown over these last few moons, there was at least one cat she knew that she could always trust.

     Peggy was still among the crowd. Opal had left already, but Sykes was still standing beside her, as was Soot, to Penny's surprise. The tiny black she-cat was animated as she chattered to the younger self-reliants. “Hubcap was attacked by one of those kittypets the other day, but he managed not to get hurt,” she told them.

     Sykes' whiskers twitched. “I bet he gave them a few good scratches to remember him by,” he joked in that gruff, wheezy voice of his. Penny didn't know the tom well, but Peggy had befriended him almost as soon as he had joined the Society. He had been a rogue once; his torn-away ear, and his scarred and scruffy pelt, as well as a voice that always sounded like he had a bad cough, spoke of his rough upbringing. Penny narrowed her eyes as the tom shifted closer to Peggy, nudging her shoulder with one paw. “He's no pushover in a fight, even with as much of a complainer as he can be.”

     “He was ambushed by three of them,” Soot revealed. She gave an airy sigh, a glow of admiration in her eyes. “He must've been very brave to fight off all of them.”

     Peggy and Sykes shared an amused glance. “Yeah, Hubcap's a pretty impressive sort of tom,” Peggy teased, flicking her tail-tip lightly against Soot's flank. As Penny drew nearer, she could see the amusement glowing in Peggy's eyes. “Wouldn't you agree, Soot?”

     Soot flattened her ears back in embarrassment, but seemed to soften when Peggy gave an encouraging purr. “Yeah, well, we'll see,” she mewed, still sounding a little flustered. “Well, there's still some good daylight hours left. Would either of you fancy going hunting?”

     Unease washed over Penny like a wave. Before Peggy could respond, she approached the group, coming to stand between her daughter and Soot. “Actually, Soot, I was hoping I could take my daughter hunting tonight,” she mewed in a sharp tone, narrowing her eyes at the smaller she-cat. Surprise flashed in Soot's eyes. The tiny she-cat took a step back, and Penny could see hurt and bewilderment in those golden eyes, so like another pair of golden eyes, which had watched her with a cold and merciless light as she lay dying...

     “Mother!” Peggy pushed past Penny, coming to stand beside Soot as she glared down her mother. “There's no need to be rude to Soot! She was just being nice!”

     Penny ignored her daughter, still keeping her gaze fixed on the tiny she-cat. “I'm sure you understand,” she continued, in a hard tone that offered no room for discussion.

     Soot glanced uneasily between Penny and Peggy, her eyes flattened against her head. “Uh, sorry, I should probably go,” she mumbled. The tiny she-cat back away a few steps, then scampered away, her tail tucked between her legs.

     Peggy watched her go for a few steps, then whirled on her mother with a snarl. “What in the stars was that for?” she demanded, yellow eyes flashing with fire. Sykes still stood nearby, watching the confrontation between mother and daughter with a baffled expression. “Soot was being perfectly decent, and you come over here and treat her like some untrustworthy rogue!” After a moment's pause, she flicked an ear towards Sykes. “No offense,” she added as an afterthought.

     “None taken.”

     Penny met her daughter's glare evenly. “I just think you should be a bit more careful about which cats you're spending time with, that's all,” she explained. The image of Soot's eyes, those cold golden eyes, flashed in her mind again, but she pushed it back. “I mean, how well do you really know Soot?”

     The ginger tabby took a step back, giving an offended snarl. “Well enough, thank you very much! She's a good friend, and she hasn't done anything to deserve you glaring at her like she's some kind of traitor!” Penny took a step towards her daughter, her expression imploring Peggy to understand, but the tabby stepped away with a snarl. “And I don't need you hanging around my paws like I'm some kind of clueless kit. I can take care of myself, and I can spend my time with who I like!” Before Penny could protest again, Peggy turned and stalked away, calling out a sharp, “Come on, Sykes!” over her shoulder. With a last, bemused glance at Penny, Sykes quickly scurried after Peggy. Within moments, they had been swallowed up by the crowd, and were gone from Penny's sight.

     Penny watched after them even once she couldn't see them, an ache in her heart. She considered chasing after Peggy, but somehow she had the feeling it wouldn't make Peggy any less annoyed at her. Better to let her cool off. With a sigh, Penny turned away, heading towards her nest.

     “That could have gone better.” The she-cat nearly jumped out of her pelt when the voice sounded behind her. Forcing her pelt to lie flat, Penny turned to see Sunny behind her. The tiny tabby approached her, a calm light to her ice-blue eyes. “I saw you talking with Peggy. She seemed pretty upset – do you want to talk about it?”

     Penny's ears flew back against her head, just managing to hold back a snarl. _So even my leader is spying on me now?_ “Not particularly,” she said in a stiff mew.

     If Sunny noticed Penny's tone, she didn't comment. Instead, she took a step forward, a hint of concern in her eyes. “I know it can be hard to let our kits go and live their own lives, but Peggy is a smart, responsible young cat, and she's full-grown now,” she said in a reasonable mew. “Maybe you should ease up on her a little. Young self-reliants like her want to prove they can stand on their own four paws – they don't react well to being controlled, even if it's with the best of intentions.”

     Penny couldn't hide her irritation this time. “I know how to look after my own daughter, Sunny,” she growled through gritted teeth. _The way you didn't look after yours._ Sunny's expression hardened, her ice-blue eyes narrowing as she seem to measure up Penny. “Please excuse me.” She turned and padded away, her tail lashing behind her as she went.

     She was so caught up in her annoyance and her thoughts that she nearly bumped into a black-and-white tom who had lingered in the den. “Watch it!” He scrambled back out of range, blinking at Penny with a bemused expression. “Distracted much, sis?”

     Annoyance faded to relief as she recognized the tom. “Puddle,” she purred. The littermates brushed muzzles, purring to each other in greeting. “It's good to see you again. How's the prey running?”

     “Not too fast, luckily,” the tom purred in amusement. Mirth glowed in his blue eyes, but it soon softened in concern. “I saw what happened with Peggy,” he informed her. “Wanna go for a walk? I think you could use it.”

     Penny hesitated. She still had no desire to go over the argument with her daughter, or to have her parenting judged. But as she met the concerned gaze of her littermate, she sighed. Puddle was some of the little family she had left – she didn't want to push him away too. “Sure,” she mewed. She allowed Puddle to lead her towards the den entrance, the two siblings making their way out into the cold of a leafbare evening.

     The sun was beginning to set over twolegplace. The snow-draped cobblestones in front of the Council Home were beginning to glow with an amber light, cast from the setting sun. Penny could feel the last of its warmth on her pelt as she and Puddle set off across the street and further into twolegplace.

     “I don't suppose there's any chance you actually want to talk about what just happened, is there?” Puddle asked, glancing at his sister with a sly expression. “Or are you just going to keep acting like everything is all fine and good, like you always do?”

     Penny gave her brother a dry look. “Leave it, Puddle,” she grunted. She gave a quick shake of her pelt, the feeling of the leafbare wind threading through her pelt almost refreshing after the stuffy Council Home. “I just want to walk.”

     “About what I expected,” Puddle mewed with a roll of his eyes. Penny did her best to ignore him, fluffing out her pelt and looking pointedly the other way. Puddle's tone was more serious when he spoke again. “I know you have a lot to deal with right now, and I know how hard things have been for you lately. I don't want to push you too hard, and if you don't want to talk to me, it's fine.” Penny finally turned to meet her brother's gaze. Soft concern was glowing in his eyes. “But I'm getting worried about you, Pen. I don't want to see you get hurt again, and I don't want to see things get worse with you and Peggy. I think the longer this goes on, the worse it's going to get if you don't find some way to help yourself.”

     Penny sighed. She pressed her muzzle against Puddle's neck, feeling the warmth of his thick pelt against hers. “I know,” she murmured. “I know you're worried. But I honestly just want to focus on keeping my daughter safe and doing my work for the Society. All I can do is block out the rest.” She took a deep breath. “It'll get better. It has to.”

     Puddle was still watching her. Penny got the feeling that wasn't the answer he'd wanted to hear. But after a few moments, he turned away with a sigh. “I hope that you're right,” he murmured. He shook out his pelt, his tone suddenly lighter. “Well, I should head out soon. Flash wanted to go hunting after the meeting was over, then we were going to visit Tire at the elder's den.”

     “I'm sure she'll like that,” Penny mewed, her voice cracking a little. Tire had started sniffling a few days ago, which had turned into a cough. The healers weren't too worried yet, but Tire had aged considerably since moving into the elder's den, and she seemed weaker these days. Flash tried to hide it, but Penny could tell her father was worried about how weak his mate was getting now that she seemed to be getting sick. “How is she doing?”

     Her brother's expression was guarded. “About the same,” he said slowly. “She ate a little more food earlier, which is good. But she still says that her stomach doesn't feel great.” He flicked his tail, taking a step away. “I promised Flash I'd meet him by the broken tall-light, near the food den,” he mewed apologetically. He flicked one ear, his expression suddenly hopeful. “You could always come with us, though.”

     Penny hesitated. Part of her really, really wanted to join Puddle, to allow herself to enjoy a night day's hunt with her brother and father. But something in her made her hold back. “Sorry, maybe another time,” she mewed. “I can't stay away from the Council Home all day, there's still some training to be done before the sun sets, and I really should check in with Peggy again at some point.”

     Disappointment glowed in Puddle's eyes, but he was quick to cover it up. “Eh, that's fine,” he mewed, bumping his muzzle against Penny's in a playful manner. “Some other time, then!” With a final flick of his tail, he turned and bounded away, leaving Penny alone in the snow.

     The tabby fought back the disappointed ache in her chest, watching after her brother for a few moments. Then, she turned and padded away. Everything would get better. He'd see. She would make Peggy understand that she just wanted what was best for her, for her daughter to be safe, and to know that she was loved.

     She would make this work. She would hold onto the good in her life and push away the rest. She had to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna wait until I'd gotten more research for my original project done before I started on this chapter, but I got the urge to work on this the other day, so I decided to just work on it. But I really do need to do more research before writing the next chapter, so there might be a wait for that next chapter.
> 
> Anyway, here we get to see what meetings in the Society are like. Some meetings are just for the Council and the Leader to vote on important issues, but there are meetings like this that are open to any Society cat who wants to attend, so they can speak directly to the Council about their concerns and make their voices heard, and so the Council can hear directly from the Society cats before making important decisions.
> 
> We also get to see more of Penny's current state of mind. I won't say too much on that matter at the moment, but clearly, the last few moons have affected her pretty heavily. We also get to see some of Soot mooning over Hubcap, we learn that Scruff and Dove are officially mates now, and we get to meet Sykes and see Peggy's reaction to her mother's coddling. And we get to see more of Puddle, and learn that Tire is sick. I like using opportunities like this chapter to show more of the side characters and their personalities. ^^
> 
> I don't think I have much else to say about this chapter, other than I'm really looking forward to working on more of this novella. This was a tough one to map out a plot for for me, but I think I've come up with something really fitting and interesting, and it'll be fun to work on. ^^


	4. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penny goes to talk with her daughter the next morning.

Warriors Series 5.5: Echoes of the War  
Novella 3: Penny's Faith  
Chapter Three

     The sun was just beginning to peak over the tall dens of twolegplace when the tabby set off from the Council Home. Penny had decided to give her daughter the night to sleep off their argument before trying to approach her again. Maybe they would both be able to approach the subject with cooler heads.

     Penny was hoping her daughter would be just waking up when she reached her nest. But when she reached Peggy's nest of twoleg fluff and bedding underneath a set of stairs, she was surprised to see that the nest was already empty. Penny slowed to a halt at the sight. A sigh escaped her; she had hoped to get the chance to talk to her daughter before she left for the day. Things had been getting so tense between them lately, she hated to let an argument lie between them for this long.

     With a slow whisk of her tail, Penny approached the nest, sniffing softly at the fluff. Maybe if she was lucky, Peggy hadn't left very long ago, and she could still catch up with her. But to her shock, Peggy's scent was far more faded than she had expected. Her pelt fluffed out in alarm. Her daughter clearly hadn't been in her nest since the night before, maybe even for longer.

     Panic started to well up in Penny's chest. She scrambled back from the nest, whirling around and sending snow flying up behind her as she bolted across the street. “Peggy!” she cried out, her chest tightening in fear. “Peggy, where are you?” Her yowls echoed off of the stone walls of the twoleg dens. Far above her head, a window opened, and she could hear the angry bellowing of a twoleg, but she ignored it. Her heart was pounding against her chest, her thoughts tripping over each other in a terrified haze. “Where are you?” Guilt and fear were twisting together in her gut, her mind a blind whirlwind of panic. _What if she's run off because we argued?_ a voice in her mind wailed. _What if I drove her to this? It's all my fault!_

     “Penny?” The tabby was so wrapped up in her panic that she didn't hear the call of her name. Images of a tom stretched out dead on the street, of her daughter's heartbroken wail, kept playing in her mind. _Not Peggy. Not her. I can't lose her too._

     It took her fellow Society cat racing up beside her and heading her off with a firm nudge from her shoulder to finally break Penny would of her terrified trance. She slowed to a halt, panting heavily and blinking as she tried to take in her surroundings. Tally was beside her, her ginger pelt pressed against Penny's, alarm flaring in her eyes. “Penny, are you alright?” she asked urgently. Penny blinked a few times, working to process the she-cats' words, before giving a weak nod. Her panting was beginning to subside, and the haze of panic had broken over her mind, though she could still feel fear sitting heavy in her gut.

     Tally gave a relieved sigh. “Good.” She sniffed at Penny's pelt, concern still glowing in her eyes. “Great stars, you look like you've seen Scourge himself!” she exclaimed. The lanky tabby glanced beside them. “What were you running from?”

     Suddenly, Penny's thoughts snapped back into order, and she found her voice again. “It's Peggy,” she answered quickly. “She's gone!”

     Alarm flashed in Tally's eyes. “What do you mean, gone?”

     “She wasn't in her nest this morning,” she explained, “and her nest smelled like she hadn't since at least the night before. She could be anywhere!”

     Tally's eyes narrowed. “She could have just moved her nest for the night, or stayed out for some reason,” she reasoned. Her tone was one of deliberate calm, and the concern glowing in her eyes was beginning to irritate Penny. She felt like the older Council member was regarding her like some kind of kit panicking over nothing. “It's not unheard of for cats to have to move nests quickly around here.”

     “But what if something's wrong?” Penny demanded, her hackles flying up. “My daughter could be lying dead out there somewhere, and you're treating me like some kind of dopey ki-!”

     “Alright, alright,” Tally cut her off, taking on a soothing tone. She pressed against Penny's pelt, touching her nose briefly to the younger cat's ear. “Let's head back to the Council Home. Maybe someone there will know where Peggy went. If not, we can get the Council to put together a search team, and we can send out the trainees to ask around twolegplace to see if anyone's seen her.” Slowly, Penny felt her irritation dying down, and her pelt began to lie flat. Tally seemed to sense it as well. She nudged Penny gently with her shoulder, leading her forward. “Come on. We'll help you find Peggy – but hanging around here isn't going to help any cat. I'll take you home.”

     Penny felt almost numb as she allowed Tally to lead her through twolegplace. She placed one paw dutifully in front of the other, her mind dull with fear as the older she-cat directed her forward. Tally was able to steer her safely through the town, even as more twolegs and monsters started to fill the streets as the sun climbed higher in the sky. After they crossed the last street, Tally led Penny across the cobblestones and into the Council Home.

     “Tally? Penny? What's wrong?” The moment they stepped into the den, the cats of the Council were surrounding them on all sides, sniffing at Penny's pelt with surprise and concern glowing in their eyes. Penny flinched away from their touch, feeling crowded with so many cats around her.

     A strong meow sounded from the back of the den. “Give her some space.” The Council cats began backing away from Penny, leaving room for the cat who had spoken to approach. Sunny padded past the larger cats around her, coming to stand in front of Penny. Concern glowed in her ice-blue gaze as she looked up at the tabby. “Are you alright, Penny?”

     “Peggy's missing,” Tally explained to Sunny, while Penny blinked dully at her leader. “Her scent is stale in her nest, she hasn't been there since last night.”

     Sunny blinked in surprise. A few of the Council cats shared concerned gazes, but before any cat could question her further, one cat spoke up. “She's not missing.” Every cat turned to look at Beetle. The young tom fluffed his pelt out, mewing gruffly, “I saw her in the south part of town just this morning, around dawn. She said she was heading to Skye's nest so they could go hunting together.”

     The tension in the den broke immediately. Relieved murmurs rose from the gathered Council cats, and Sunny gave Beetle a grateful nod. It took a few moments for the words to sink in for Penny. _She's safe. My daughter is safe._ The numbness began fade, like rainwater sliding off of her pelt, her mind coming awake again. But suspicion and fear still lingered.

     “Has any cat seen her since then?” she asked, swinging her head around to meet the gazes of her fellow Council cats. “What about Sykes? It might not be safe-”

     “That's enough, Penny.” Sunny's sharp mew was enough to cut Penny off. The tabby fell silent, blinking at her leader as Sunny continued, “We can send a trainee to check on Peggy and Sykes in a while. But the self-reliants of our Society are called that for a reason. Peggy and Sykes are both capable members our of Society, and can look after themselves on a hunt.”

     Penny opened her jaws to argue further, only for a nudge from Tally to silence her. “It's alright,” the older she-cat murmured. “Peggy will be fine.” The tabby hesitated, glancing at Tally, before giving a reluctant nod. She could already see the annoying, sympathetic glow in the eyes of her fellow Council members. They thought she was over-reacting – they weren't going to listen to her now.

     The crowd began to break up, with the Council cats heading back to what they had been doing, a few of them leading the trainees outside for training. Penny tried to head out of the den, but Sunny cut her off. “I need to talk to you,” she said. Though her tone was neutral, her firm expression warned Penny not to argue with her. With a sigh, Penny allowed Sunny to lead her to a more remote corner of the den, where Sunny made her nest.

     Once they were out of earshot of the other cats, Sunny circled around to stand in front of Penny, her eyes narrowed. “I understand that you're worried about your daughter,” she began slowly. “After everything that's happened, I truly understand. But I can't send trainees out looking for your daughter every time she stays away from her nest for too long. Our trainees have to keep up with your training, and I believe Peggy wouldn't exactly appreciate being tailed by trainees every time she leaves to hunt. She's been recognized as a self-reliant of this Society, which means she has been found to be capable of looking after herself. I can't do my job if I have to watch the step of every self-reliant to make sure they're safe whenever they leave their nests.”

     “It's not your job to look after Peggy, it's mine,” Penny mewed, fighting to keep a polite tone.

     Sunny gave a single lash of her tail. “Your job is to serve as a member of this Council and look after the well-being of the Society as a whole,” she reminded Penny in a firm tone. “Not to traipse after one self-reliant every day.” When Penny tried to argue again, Sunny cut her off swiftly. “No, today, I think you'll serve your Society by hunting for the elders. It'll give the trainees a break, and it might take your mind off what's happened.”

     Penny felt her hackles raise, and she had to fight to keep back a growl. Fury and embarrassment burned under her pelt. She was a Council member of the Society – it was a mark of shame to hear her leader scolding her like some wayward trainee. It was rare for the Society's leader to give straight-up orders, especially to members of the Council, on whom she was meant to rely on and turn to for guidance. But Penny knew a command from her leader when she heard it. “Yes, Sunny,” she managed between gritted teeth. Without meeting Sunny's eyes, she turned and stalked away, her pelt bristling and tail lashing indignantly as she padded out of the den.

     She let her paws carry her further into twolegplace, her mind a haze of annoyance and worry tangling together. Peggy was a capable young cat, it was true, but twolegplace was a dangerous place for a cat. She could be stubborn and reckless, and often too trusting. Sykes had only joined the Society a few moons ago. He was heavily scarred for such a young cat, and though he seemed friendly enough, he could be rough in his speech. Penny worried about how much time Peggy seemed to be spending with him. What if he wasn't as trustworthy as Peggy seemed to think he was? She could really get hurt.

     The tabby was so distracted by her thoughts that she didn't realize how far south into twolegplace the stone path was leading her until she noticed the smaller dens and fences around her. She had left the larger gathering-dens behind, where many twolegs walked in and out all day, and had found her way to the dens where twolegs made their homes, with their gardens and fences and monsters waiting outside. She was currently walking beside a garden without a fence, with a den some ways behind it. Her ears perked curiously. This was where some Society cats had been having problems with aggressive kittypets. Shy and Snuggle were due to meet with them later that day to try and work things out peacefully.

     No sooner had the thought left her head than a yowl rang out. Something slammed into Penny's side, a vicious snarl sounding in her ear as she was carried off her paws and thrown to the ground. “Rogue scum!” a voice hissed in her ear. Penny twisted around, and was greeted by a tortoiseshell face baring her fangs at her. Yellow eyes blazed with fury whisker-lengths from her own. The tortoiseshell had Penny pinned, her claws digging into her shoulder. “We told you to stay away!” She pressed one paw down on Penny's throat.

     Panic blazed through her pelt. She could feel her chest tightening, the feeling of her lungs closing in on themselves, bites of that dreaded magpie lodged in her throat. Without bothering to answer, she swung her hind legs around, swiping wildly at the tortoiseshell's flanks to unbalance her. The tortoiseshell yowled in pain. Her grip was loosened enough for Penny to rip free from her grasp. She scrambled back, crouching and hissing as she faced her opponent.

     She was able to get a better look at her enemy now that she was standing. The tortoiseshell had a thick, soft pelt, free of scars or any sign of hardship. A pale pink collar with a darker pink bell hung around her neck. Her yellow eyes were narrowed, gleaming with hatred, and her pelt was trembling with rage. “Leave us alone!” she hissed, crouching lower, her tail lashing and bristling furiously.

     White-hot rage burned in every hair on Penny's pelt, her vision blotting out with black spots. _No one will ever make me helpless again!_ Golden eyes flashed in her mind, and a body stretched on a road. When the kittypet lunged at Penny again, Penny struck first, the fury of her attack carrying the kittypet to the ground. They tumbled for a few moments before Penny managed to get the upper paw. She buried her fangs in the kittypet's shoulder, striking with her claws again and again through the tortoiseshell's pelt. Even when the kittypet's snarling gave way to a terrified wailing, she refused to let go, rage surging through every hair on her pelt.

     Suddenly, there was the sound of a door slamming, and the furious cries of a twoleg. Penny tried to ignore it, but soon the twoleg's cries were joined by the wild barking of a dog, which grew louder and louder. Penny shrieked as fangs suddenly dug into her sides. The massive jaws of the dog pried her off of the tortoiseshell and sent her hurling across the grass. She landed hard on one shoulder, groaning.

     As she struggled back to her paws, Penny could see a twoleg standing in the doorway of the den, waving its paw at her and yowling at her in its booming voice. The dog, a huge brown-and-white brute with a short muzzle and broad face, was standing protectively in front of the tortoiseshell, barking furiously at the tabby. Another kittypet, a brown tom, scrambled past the twoleg and bounded to the tortoiseshell's side. “Angelica, are you alright?” he gasped, nosing the tortoiseshell's pelt with concern glowing in his eyes.

     The tortoiseshell, Angelica, struggled to pull herself up to a crouch. Long scars ran down one shoulder, and her side was bleeding badly. Her legs shook as she called out to Penny, “Just stay away from our gardens, rogue! We don’t want your mind here!” The dog took a warning step towards Penny, snarling furiously, while the twoleg left its den behind and approached Angelia. It scooped her up in its massive paws, holding her tight against its chest and cooing to her as it carried back towards the den.

     Penny watched them go for a few moments, panting heavily, before turning and stalking away, still fuming. What right did that kittypet have to tell Penny to stay away, and look at her like she was some kind of monster? Sure, Penny had fought viciously, but Angelica was the one who had started the fight! She limped away, wincing from her bruised shoulder as she hurried away from the web of twoleg dens.

      **SCENEBREAK**

     Even with an aching shoulder, Penny managed to catch a pigeon and mouse, and scrounge up some meat for herself in a dumpster before sunhigh. She carried her catch back towards the elder’s den.

     To her surprise, the elders weren’t alone when she arrived. A familiar ginger tabby was in the den, nosing a rat towards an elderly she-cat. “Blink?” she mewed, setting her catch down at her paws.

     The one-eyed tom looked up, giving a friendly flick of his tail. “Hello, Penny,” he mewed. Her fellow Council member nodded towards the she-cat, explaining, “I was just bringing my mother something to eat.”

     Penny gave a small new of understanding. Blink had initially claimed to be a rogue when he first joined BloodClan all those seasons ago, but he had recently admitted to having been born a kittypet. His mother was a kittypet named Delilah, who had lived with an elderly twoleg, along with her sister Lotus. Blink had taken to visiting her once he became an established Council member of the Society. A few moons ago, Delilah and Lotus’ twoleg had died. When both she-cats expressed their aversion to moving in with another twoleg after losing the one they’d loved, Blink had convinced Sunny to let his mother and aunt join the Society as elders. Sunny had been more than happy to take in the cats who had raised such a dedicated and loyal member of the Council.

     “Blink takes good care of us,” Lotus rasped from her nest next to Delilah’s. There was something about the flame-like hue of her ginger patches that was oddly familiar, and something in her and Delilah’s scent seemed familiar too. But the thought was driven from Penny’s mind as Lotus joked, “I just hope my nephew hasn’t been neglecting his duties to look after a couple of old slackers like us.”

     The tom purred, butting his head against Lotus' cheek. “You're not slackers,” he chided her gently. “And I like being able to visit you both.” Delilah purred as well, reaching out to brush her muzzle against her son's. Penny watched the scene warily for a few moments, then padded off further into the den. Lotus and Delilah seemed nice enough, but Penny didn't know them well.

     Instead, she headed towards the other side of the den, where a ginger tom was pressing against the side of a skinny black she-cat. “Flash, Tire,” Penny called out to them. Her parents looked up as she approached.

     “Penny,” Tire purred, brushing her muzzle against Penny's as she came to stand in front of them. “It's good to see you again.” Flash said nothing, but purred loudly, blinking at her. The tom was fairly quiet compared to his outgoing mate, but had always been a loving mate and father. Though he hadn't retired yet, he spent much of his time in the elder's den, looking after his weakening mate.

     Penny gave a weak purr. “It's good to see you too.” She couldn't help but notice how dull Tire's gaze was, or how her bones stuck out through her pelt at sharp angles.

     Tire's gaze darkened with concern as she looked over Penny's ruffled pelt. “Great stars, you look like you've been in a fight!” she mewed in concern.

     “I'm fine,” she insisted. “Just a bit bruised.” She reached her muzzle down to give her shoulder a few swift licks, then looked back up at her mother. “It was just a kittypet from the southern part of town.”

     Flash's eyes narrowed. “There's been a lot of problems with kittypets in that area, hasn't there?” he asked in his soft mew. “I hope Shy and Snuggle can talk some sense into them. We certainly don't need unnecessary fighting, with leafbare already making surviving out here harder.”

     Tire rasped out a purr, touching her nose to Flash's ear. “Don't worry, dear,” she mewed brightly. “Our border guards know what they're doing, and Shy and Snuggle are good at their job. They'll be able to talk the kittypets into standing down, and the rest of us will get by, just like we always have. We'll be fine.”

     The tom gave a short mew of agreement, but the glance he flashed Penny told her that he shared the same reservations that she did. The kittypets were becoming more violent by the day, if Angelica's attack on her today was anything to go by. She had a feeling that a quick chat from some Council members wasn't going to solve this problem.

     Even more troubling was the increasingly worse health of Tire. Ever since she had retired, she had been growing weaker and weaker with age, growing thin even as she was well-fed. Now she was sick, and Penny could tell by the fear glowing in Flash's eyes that he worried she wouldn't see it through to the end of leafbare. She reached out her nose to touch to Tire's ear, trying to give a supporting purr, but it came out sounding strangled and weak. Nothing terrified her more than the thought of losing some of the little family she had left. Tire and Flash had done their best to support her in the moons since Scorch's attack on her, and she had relied heavily on their support and comfort. Now, Tire looked weaker by the day, and Flash already seemed weakened with grief for her.

     She felt her pelt begin to shake as she leaned into the embrace of her parents. _I'm already so close to losing you,_ she thought, closing her eyes. _I can't lose Peggy. Not her too. I can't save you, but I can save her._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt like working on more of this, so here's the next chapter of Penny's Faith. ^^ Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! :D At least to those who celebrate it. Thanksgiving's origins and implications are, as always, questionable, but it is a nice day to have dinner with family at least. ^^
> 
> Anyway, here we get to see Penny freak out over the apparent disappearance of her daughter, and also an attack from a kittypet. Of course I had to sneak an Angelica in there. ^^ Now I have characters named after all three of the Schuyler Sisters that appear in Hamilton. ^^ Also, I forgot to mention, the kittypet named Oscar in the allegiances is named after my pet cat Oscar who died when I was a kid. She looked like Oscar as I described her in the allegiances, gray and white.
> 
> Does anyone have any guesses as to why Lotus and Delilah seem familiar to Penny, and who they might be? ^^ I'll probably reveal it in the comments for the next chapter, and it might be sorta obvious, but I'd love to see people's guesses.
> 
> I don't really have much else to say about the chapter itself. There might be a delay for the next chapter. This weekend, I'm heading off to see Skate America, a professional skating competition in Lake Placid. :D It's going to be a lot of fun, but also rather long and busy, so I won't be posting much online this weekend in all likelihood.


	5. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another meeting is called to discuss the kittypets.

Warriors Series 5.5: Echoes of the War  
Novella 3: Penny's Faith  
Chapter Four

     Sunny leaped down off of the garbage can. “This meeting of the Council is now officially in session,” she called in a brisk tone. She joined the rest of the Council, sitting at the head of the circle they formed.

     Penny sat beside her fellow Council members, her tail twitching tensely behind her. Sniff sat on her left side, Shy on her right. She glanced briefly at the toms on either side of her, feeling cold, hard determination in her gut. Some days had passed since Shy and Snuggle had gone to speak with the hostile kittypets, and tensions had only risen since then. Sunny had called a meeting of the Council to see what could be done.

     Snuggle was the first to speak. “We tried to speak to the kittypets in that area,” he rumbled, shame glowing in his eyes. The large tom was sitting beside Sunny, looming over his tiny sister as though she were a kit. “But at every nest we visited, the kittypets drove Shy and I away before we could get more than two words in. It was a complete failure.”

     Sunny blinked slowly at her brother. “It wasn't your fault,” she told Snuggle, touching her nose briefly to the tom's shoulder. “You and Shy did the best that you could.”

     “It's not enough just to try,” Shy said. From his clipped tone, he was as frustrated as his brother that their talk with the kittypets hadn't worked out. “Our talk accomplished nothing, and now, the attacks are only getting worse.”

     Murmurs of agreement rose from the crowd. “I was attacked by them while trying to hunt for my parents,” Penny spoke up. Her bruises from the dog tossing her had long ago healed, but the annoyance of the attack still lingered. She hadn't been as invested in Society matters these last moons, or as trusting of her fellow Council members, but Angelica's attack had left her determined to see justice brought to these hostile kittypets.

     “Swipe and Twilight were attacked while trying to gather herbs in that area,” Tally added.

     Beetle growled, “Hazelnut was chased away when she tried to scavenge near one of the garbage bins in that area.”

     “Chatter's leg was badly hurt in the last attack,” Sunbeam reported grimly. Tawny was sitting next to her sister, her tail lashing. “Our sister says that he's doing better now with herbs, but that it could've been much worse for him. He could've ended up crippled for life if he'd gone any longer untreated.”

     Worried murmurs rippled through the crowd. “This has gone too far,” Blink rumbled, a dark gleam in his eye. “Chatter was lucky, but the next cat might not be. We can't let these attacks continue.”

     Sunny nodded slowly. “I agree,” she mewed. “We cannot let these attacks against the cats of our Society go on. What we need to decide now is the best way to approach the situation. We have never dealt with hostilities of this level before from any group, not since Frenzy's failed attempt to overthrow my mother, and that was seasons ago.”

     A few of the younger cats looked alarmed. “Do you think that's what this is?” Beetle asked, a tremor in his usually-gruff tone. “Some sort of attempt to protest against the Society and bring back BloodClan?”

     “Why would kittypets have any interest in bringing back BloodClan?” Sniff reasoned. “Most of them wouldn't have been alive when BloodClan was still around, and it's not like Scourge was any friend to kittypets.”

     “Who knows what they're thinking?” Blink pointed out in a growl. “Either way, we can't let this go on. We need to let these kittypets know that we won't tolerate any further attacks.”

     Several of the cats in the circle were nodding. “Agreed,” Shy murmured. “But what's the best way to do that?”

     Penny had been silent through most of the meeting, allowing her fellow Council members to carry the conversation as her thoughts turned darker and darker with anger. When she finally did speak again, her voice was a low, bitter growl. “If they're so determined to start a fight, I say we let them.”

     The Council fell silent, turning one by one to stare at Penny. Many of them seemed surprised. Sunny gave a brisk twitch of her tail, but otherwise didn't react. “What do you mean?” Tawny asked, narrowing her eyes.

     “Exactly what I said,” Penny growled. She lifted her chin, feeling a growl building in the back of her throat. She could still remember Angelica flying out of nowhere, slamming into her and shrieking in her ear. The kittypet's attack had been easily warded off, but the next Society cat to visit those gardens might not be so lucky. Penny felt a chilled sense of anger steal over her. _Those cats have no right to attack us like this, when we've done nothing,_ she thought viciously. _I won't let any cat make me helpless. Never again._ “These kittypets have attacked us without provocation, and they're resisted any attempts at solving this peacefully. Enough is enough. We need to bring the fight to them, and let them know that this won't be tolerated any longer.”

     Cats began murmuring at her suggestion, swapping glances. “That seems a bit extreme,” Snuggle mewed with wide eyes. Penny almost thought she heard a sort of shuffling noise from the roof above, but after a few moments, she decided she had just confused it with the murmurs of the cats around her.

     “I don't know,” Blink murmured, his eye narrowed thoughtfully. “Penny's right, we've tried to solve this peacefully, and we can't just sit back while the cats we're responsible for are being attacked unfairly. Maybe one big battle patrol, enough to scare the kittypets, will be enough to make them back off, or at least reconsider their attacks.”

     Some cats were nodding, but the older Council members still seem unconvinced. “I understand that we can't just let this go by without action,” Tally mewed, her tail lashing. “But attacking kittypets in their own territory? I feel like that's more likely to anger them further, and make them feel justified in further attacks.”

     “Then we strike hard enough to convince them that attacking the Society ever again would be a huge mistake,” Penny growled. She could still feel the icy angry crawling up through her veins, settling in just under her skin. “We don't just scare them – we give them some serious wounds to think about, and we send them running with their tails between their legs. They're the ones that started this fight. If they want a war on their paws, then they've got it.”

     Sniff's eyes flew open wide. “War?” he gasped. “Penny, what are you suggesting? It's not the Council's job to use our Society to start waging war on anyone!”

     “My mate is correct, Penny,” Sunny mewed. Her tone was as even as ever, but there was something hard about the light in her eyes as she stared at Penny. “My mother did not form this Council for the purpose of declaring wars.”

     “I don't know. Penny does have a point. These kittypets started attacking our cats without any given reason, and they've started getting more vicious in their attacks. Sunbeam said it herself, Chatter could've been crippled for life after that last attack. If they're prepared to hurt our cats that badly, then we have to be prepared to sink that low to defend them,” Specklefur growled. The tom's gaze was dark with anger as he glanced at Sunbeam, who dipped her head in reluctant agreement about Chatter's state.

     Even Blink looked a bit alarmed by Penny's suggestion. “I agree that we need to defend our Society, but such a vicious attack seems like a drastic measure to take.”

     Beetle pinned his ears back, snarling, “So what if it is? Penny's right, they're the ones that started this! The Society looks to us to defend them, we can't just sit back and do nothing!”

     “This may not be what the Council was formed for, but situations change. As the needs of the Society change, the Council must change with them,” Tawny pointed out in an even tone. Her green eyes were glinting with a dark light. “I don't like the thought of turning to such drastic measures, but I'm not sure we have much of a choice at this point. We have to put protecting the Society over our concerns about hurting these kittypets. We must do what has to be done to protect our cats.”

     Tally lashed her tail, a growl in her throat. “I don't like it,” she insisted. “This is sounding more like Scourge and his bullies than the Council. I didn't help form this Council so it could be used to savage other cats.”

     “We're not doing this to harass innocent cats like Scourge did,” Specklefur reminded her. “The kittypets are the ones who attacked us first. We're just defending ourselves.”

     Shy and Snuggle exchanged a long, worried look, before Shy turned to their sister. “Tawny might be right,” he admitted quietly. “I hate the thought of using our Society for such a serious act of violence, but if we have no other way of protecting innocent cats, then it might be our only choice.”

     Sunny closed her eyes, her brow furrowing. “I know,” she murmured, her tone sounding pained. “It's our duty to do what must be done to protect our cats. If we must mount an attack, then we must.” She was silent for several moments, seeming to struggle against the concept, before finally heaving a great sigh. She lifted her chin. “Very well,” she mewed clearly, though her icy gaze was still troubled. “I will gather a patrol of willing self-reliants and border guards myself. In three days' time, we will mount an attack on the kittypets who have been terrorizing our cats.” Her gaze turned hard as she added, “There will be no attacking of cats who haven't participated in these attacks, and no hurting cats who won't fight back. I won't let any savagery happen on my watch. But if these kittypets must be taught a lesson, then that's what we'll have to do.” She gave a swift lash of her tail. “You're all dismissed.”

     The cats of the Council began to rise, murmuring to each other as they walked away. The atmosphere was tense now that battle had been decided on. Penny started to follow them, only for Sunny to call her back. “Except for you,” the leader called in a stiff mew. “We need to talk. Now.” Penny bristled indignantly at her leader's tone, but didn't protest as Sunny led her towards a far corner of the den. Once again, Penny almost thought she could hear something from the roof, like the falling of paws against tiles, but it soon fell silent, and she forgot it quickly in her annoyance.

     Once they were in their own corner of the den, Sunny turned towards Penny, something hard in her gaze. “I'm not saying that you're wrong for suggesting what you did,” she began coolly. “But the Penny I knew would never have turned to battle as her first suggestion.” Penny opened her mouth to argue, but Sunny cut her off with a lash of her tail. “And the Penny I knew would have never suggested such violent measures.”

     “Well, it's the Penny I am now,” the she-cat growled, trying to keep her growing irritation from creeping into her mew. “Can I go now?”

     She tried to walk away, but Sunny blocked her, her expression hard. “I wasn't finished, Penny,” she snapped, her tone harsher than Penny had heard from her before. “This is serious.” She paused, then took a deep breath, her expression softening into concern. “I'm worried about you, Penny,” the leader admitted. “I know you've been going through a lot lately, I understand that. But you've changed so much in these last few moons.” She took a step towards Penny, her expression softening. “You're a good cat, Penny. You're too good a Council member, and too good a cat, to let the bad things that have happened turn you cold. I want to help you if I can.”

     The tiny she-cat reached out a paw, brushing it against Penny's shoulder, but the tabby pulled back with a snarl. She had been trying to keep her temper around the leader for as long as she could these last few moons, but at the she-cat's touch, something snapped inside. “Oh, you want to _help_ me, do you?” she snarled, her hackles flying up as she reeled back from her leader. “Like you helped your daughter?” Sunny drew back sharply, eyes wide, as though Penny had struck her. “What, you think I'd forgotten about Scorch? Well I haven't! I have to live with what your daughter did to me, to my _mate_ , every day of my life! And don't think I've forgotten that you were her mother. I'm the reason your daughter was exiled, Sunny, so don't tell me that you want to be my friend or that you want to help me, because we both know that's not true. How could you ever want to help the cat who turned your daughter into a killer? You don't want to help me, you _hate_ me!”

     “Penny... that's not...” Sunny stammered, seeming truly stunned by Penny's outburst.

     “Of course it's true!” Penny snarled, cutting her leader off. She loomed over the tiny she-cat, baring her fangs as she spat, “Do you think I'm blind? Do you think I haven't seen how every cat looks at me since Scorch was exiled? That most of them wish I'd just died quietly like I was supposed to, so they never had to face how evil Scorch really was? I thought growing up that I could always rely on my Society, that there's this great bond between us that means we put each other first and look out for each other, but your daughter proved me wrong.” She lashed her tail, taking a step away from Sunny. “The only cats I can trust anymore are my family, and I will do whatever it takes to protect them, from hostile kittypets, from traitors like Scorch – and from the Society.” Sunny's eyes grew even wider. “ _Whatever_ it takes!”

     With a final hiss in her leader's direction, Penny turned and spun away, bounding past Sunny and towards the doorway. A gust of cold, leafbare air barreled into her the moment she left the den. She started to bound off into the snow, leaving the Council Home behind her, but a sharp cry brought her to a halt near the edge of the street. “Penny!”

     “Peggy?” Penny turned around, surprised to see her daughter leaping down from the roof of the Council Home, her eyes blazing with fury as she stormed up to her mother. The she-cat was stunned – Peggy had been avoiding her ever since their argument, she'd barely seen her since the morning she'd gone hunting with Sykes, despite Penny's repeated attempts to speak with her. “What... wait, it was you I heard!” She recalled the sounds from the roof of the Council Home during the meeting. “Were you spying on us?”

     “I needed to hear what the Council would decide to do about the kittypets,” Peggy spat. Penny was shocked to see that her daughter was shaking with barely-suppressed rage, her eyes blazing with anger and hurt. “I can't believe what you said in there, mother! Where's all that talk of peace and reaching out to others that you spouted when I was a kit?” She thrust her muzzle in Penny's face, snarling, “How could you even suggest something like that, mother? How could you do that?”

     Penny took a step back, bewildered by her daughter's anger. Peggy hadn't spoken at the last meeting – Penny hadn't realized her daughter had a strong opinion on the situation with the kittypets. “I... they attacked us first, Peggy,” she stammered. “We have to defend our Society.”

     “I understand that,” Peggy hissed. “I get the other Council members thinking that way. But you?” She drew herself up, every hair on her pelt bristling. “You were always the cat I looked up to, mother. You were the one who spoke for peace and for understanding, for always looking at every options before acting, and who tried to push the Council to be more compassionate and more open with the cats outside our Society. But look at you now! Declaring war on kittypets, talking about hurting other cats like you'd _enjoy_ it, yowling at your own leader... what's happened to you?”

     The anger in Peggy's eyes tore at Penny's heart, more than any of her leader's earlier scolding. She longed to blot out the words she was hearing, to forget Peggy's accusations, to forget that her daughter's admiration of her had been destroyed so completely. She fought for several moments to find her voice again. “Peggy... you don't understand. Sometimes the world is terrible, and dangerous, and we have to do what's necessary to protect ourselves from it. These kittypets started this fight, and they're going to have to answer for it. It's horrible, but it's the way things are. You just don't get it.”

     Her daughter drew back with a snarl, looking affronted. “Don't treat me like some kit who just doesn't know about this dark, scary world,” Peggy mocked, her tail lashing. “Do you think you're the only one who misses Bounce?” Penny drew in a sharp breath, her gut twisting painfully at the mention of her lost mate. “Do you think you're the only one who has nightmares about his body stretched on that street?” She took a step closer to her mother, snarling, “Do you think I haven't had nightmares about the day Scorch almost stole you from me? I almost lost you, mother, and then I lost my father. I know as well as any cat how cruel this world can be. But that doesn't give us the excuse to start acting cruel ourselves!”

     “I'm not being cruel!” Penny snapped. The anger was starting to come back again, but it was hot this time, mixed with desperation to make her daughter understand. “The kittypets are the ones who started this!” She took a step towards her daughter, her mew becoming harsher. “Look. Everything, _everything_ that I do, is to try and protect the few cats left in my life that I know I can trust. There are cats like those kittypets, like Scorch, who will try to take everything from cats who never deserved it. All we can do is try to hold on to what we have left, and if I have to fight and hurt others to keep what I have, then that's what I'll do.” Her growl grew deeper as she added, “She took your father from us, Peggy. She almost took me. I won't let anything like that happen ever again. I won't be helpless ever again.”

     Peggy's eyes widened in shock. “Scorch... is that what this is all about? Scorch didn't kill Bounce, mother! You know she didn't! She left twolegplace a moon before he died, and he was hit by a monster!” She lashed her tail, hissing, “There's no great conspiracy of evil cats closing in on us. There's cats like Scorch, but there's also just life, and terrible things happen sometimes, and sometimes there's nothing you can do to stop them! What happened to father was terrible, but there's nothing that you could've done to protect him. Closing off from every other cat won't suddenly stop the cats you love from getting hurt.” Penny was shaking now, every hair on her pelt trembling with grief and shock and fear. She tried to turn away, but Peggy circled around her, forcing her mother to meet her gaze. “You don't even realize what's happening to you, do you? Do you _really_ want to know which cat was the one who reminded me of Scorch tonight? It sure as foxdung wasn't Sunny, as much as you yowled at her about it. Harsh stances against outsiders and rule-breakers, no mercy or tolerance, stop them at any cost... those could've been her words, mother.”

     Penny froze. All of the breath had been knocked from her like a blow. Her anger drained from her instantly, fear and shock and hurt filling up every inch of her, until she was drowning in it. When she finally spoke again, her voice was raw and hoarse, as though it had been her yowling her anger rather than her daughter. “How... how can you _say_ that?” she rasped, staring at Peggy with wide eyes. Every hair on her pelt was trembling. _Scorch,_ she thought, her insides twisting in on themselves. _She thinks I'm like that... that_ monster _... oh stars above..._

     The younger she-cat hesitated for a moment, seeming to realize the weight of what she'd said. Then her gaze hardened. “Tell me that I'm wrong,” she challenged in a growl. After several moments of Penny staring blankly at her, Peggy apparently decided that she wasn't going to get an answer. With a final snort, she turned and bounded away, soon leaving her mother alone outside of the cobblestones of the Council Home.

      _She thinks I'm like Scorch._ The cold leafbare wind buffeted against Penny's sides, tugging at her pelt, but she barely felt it. An even colder feeling of dread was building inside of her gut. _I'm not like Scorch. I'm nothing like that monster._ She took in a sharp breath, closing her eyes against the torrent of emotions raging inside of her. She looked back at the way she'd spoken that evening, the way she had treated her fellow Council members, her Society, her daughter, these last few moons. She looked back at her own vicious attack on Angelica, how she'd kept attacking even after the kittypet began wailing in terror, begging to be let go.

      _I'm not like Scorch... am I?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the newest chapter for Penny's Faith. Things are starting to get more intense here. ^^ An attack on the kittypets is being planned, Penny's yelled at her leader, and now Peggy's yelled at her mother. And it seems Penny might be rethinking a few of her actions recently... ^^
> 
> Also, I promised I'd reveal the reasons for Lotus and Delilah seeming familiar to Penny in the description for this chapter. It's not really related to the plot, and it doesn't effect much, but I thought it'd be fun to include anyway. One person guessed it. ^^ Lotus and Delilah are two of Firestar and Princess' littermates. :D I know we were given names for Firestar's littermates in the Missing Kits project, but I never used that in my EOTW 'verse since I'd already come up with stuff that contradicted it, and it's sadly been made non-canon now anyway, so I decided to come up with my own version of Firestar's littermates - and also, my own version of the rest of Princess's kits. Most of them won't be showing up in any of my EOTW stories, but I thought it'd be fun to come up with names and stories for them anyway. ^^ And yes, since Blink is Delilah's son, and Delilah is Firestar's sister, that does make Blink Firestar's nephew. He's also related to Sunny through Jake, though neither of them know it.
> 
> I've had names and descriptions and stories planned for all of these cats for a while, and I thought it would be fun to connect at least some of them to the Society, hence why Lotus and Delilah are included here. ^^ I'm planning on making ref sheets for all of them, so you can see what they look like and what they're named, and I'll also include my idea of how their life went and what their story and personality was.
> 
> Anyway, back to Penny's Faith. I'll try to have the next chapter up soon, but we'll see. I've been sick lately, so I haven't really been motivated to do a whole lot, and I'm gonna be busy with the holiday season coming up. But I do want to get through writing this, it is fun to be back writing this series. We'll see. :)


	6. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penny thinks over her daughter's words.

Warriors Series 5.5: Echoes of the War  
Novella 3: Penny's Faith  
Chapter Five

     Penny didn't return to the Council Home until very late that night. She spent the rest of the day roaming twolegplace, going over her daughter's words again and again in her mind, barely paying attention to anything around her. The confused and emotionally exhausted she-cat finally crept back into the Council Home when she was sure every other cat would already be asleep. The last thing she needed was to be confronted with her fellow Council Members about the way she'd spoken to Sunny after everything else that had already happened.

     As she'd hoped, all of her denmates were already asleep in their nests when she returned. She was able to retreat to her nest for the night without obstacle. The she-cat curled into a tight ball, trying to block out all of the dark and tangled thoughts that continued to plague her. She lay in her nest for a long time before she was finally able to drift off to sleep.

     Her dreams that night took a dark turn. She was standing on the edge of the street, frozen in place as a familiar ginger tom crouched across the street from her. Agony pierced her heart at the sight of him. _Bounce._ She ached to call out to him, to race to his side, to do _something_ , but every muscle was frozen in place. She could do nothing but watch.

     The scene played over and over again in front of her eyes. Sometimes, Bounce stepped out onto the street of his own accord, apparently not hearing the monster that came careening out of nowhere towards him. Sometimes, a huge gray she-cat appeared, snarling fury as she slammed into the tom and sent him sprawling into the path of an oncoming monster. But worst of all were the times when those golden eyes glowed a familiar yellow, and the gray pelt became a reddish-brown. Over and over, Penny had to watch the final, desperate struggles of the tom she loved, and it tore at her heart a little more each time, until she felt she was drowning in her grief, and her guilt.

     When Penny finally woke the next morning, her mind was still clouded with exhaustion, as though she'd gotten no rest at all. She rose from her nest, blinking blearily as she tried to determine how long she'd slept. By the empty nests around her, and the light streaming in through the windows, it was nearing sunhigh. The tabby blinked in surprise. She almost never got to sleep this long; she had too many responsibilities helping with training and speaking with various Society cats to let her sleep the day away. Part of her wondered why her denmates had let her sleep so long, but after a few moments, she simply shrugged and began padding out of the den. After yesterday's events and the night's dreams, she would need a long walk to clear her head.

     Penny could hear the distant mews of the trainees and some of the Council members as she exited the den, but she ignored them. No one had said anything to her about helping with the morning's training, and she wasn't in any state to help them anyway. She'd just have to bring some prey back to the den later to make up for it. She left the Council home behind her, crossing the nearby street and letting her paws take her further into twolegplace.

     As she trudged through the snowy paths of twolegplace, Penny finally forced her mind to go back over the fight with Peggy. Her daughter's cutting words played over and over in her mind. _“Do you_ really _want to know which cat was the one who reminded me of Scorch tonight?”_ Her ears flew back, hurt flooding through her as she remembered her daughter's words, but she forced herself not to tune them out.

      _Is she right?_ The question had been plaguing Penny ever since Peggy had stormed away from her. Ever since that terrible night, Scorch had become this horrible, looming presence of evil in Penny's subconscious, like the nursery stories about Scourge and his endless savagery. Everything she had done since that night had been in an effort to protect the family she had left from the evil things the world had to offer. She had never stopped to consider that she might possibly be becoming something like Scorch herself. But her daughter's words had thrown her self-righteousness back in her face, and now she was being forced to consider whether she really had started to become the thing she hated most.

     Her first reaction had been to violently reject the notion. Of course she wasn't like Scorch. She would never kill any cat, and certainly never for something as cruel and selfish as furthering her own ambition. She would never betray her Society that way, and she would never put herself before another cat's life that way. But then she'd forced herself to think about it more. Maybe she wasn't a killer like Scorch. But she had been colder lately, more violent, more angry. She'd jumped almost immediately to the conclusion of declaring war on the kittypets, rather than trying to think of some way to reach them peacefully, and she'd continued attacking Angelica even after the kittypet had wailed for mercy. She wasn't sure how much she agreed with her daughter's assessment. Suspicion still pricked at her mind, and she couldn't quite bring herself to the thought that she'd been entirely wrong about her Society and her leader. But the more she thought about how she'd been acting the last few moons, the more her pelt burned with shame.

     As Penny came to the edge of a particularly wide street, she suddenly paused, determination hardening in her gut. Things couldn't go on like this. She needed some answers, and while she didn't know whether she would ever know all of them, she knew where she could at least find some. With a sharp whisk of her tail, she turned away from the street she'd meant to cross, instead heading further south into twolegplace.

     She was able to follow from memory the path through twolegplace to the nest in the southern part of town. She was cautious as she approached the fenceless garden, keeping a way eye out for the dog that had attacked her last time, but everything seemed quiet. Penny bounded silently up to the nest, coming to a long pipe that stretched across one side, then slithered neatly along the pipe up onto the roof. She settled herself into a crouch on the tiled roof, ready to begin her watch for the cat she needed to speak to.

     She didn't have to wait for very long. After a few minutes, there was the soft rustle of a cat flap being pushed open, and a familiar tortoiseshell stepped out into the garden, gazing warily around herself. Penny tensed. She waited until the tortoiseshell was a sufficient distance from the den, then she leaped silently down onto the snow, creeping towards the kittypet. Once she was close enough, she pounced.

     “Ree-ow-!” The kittypet's yowl of alarm was quickly cut off when Penny pushed her muzzle into the snow. Guilt flashed through her as she used her paw to clamp the kittypet's jaws shut, _just like Scorch did to me, don't think like that, can't think like that right now_ , but she forced herself to focus on keeping the kittypet pinned and quiet. The tortoiseshell fought and thrashed to free herself, but Penny's greater weight and strength was able to keep her pinned.

     “Listen to me,” Penny meowed, leaning her muzzle down towards the kittypet's ear. “Angelica – your name's Angelica, right?” The tortoiseshell only hissed violently in response, her words still muffled by Penny's paws. “Angelica, I know we got off on the wrong paw last time. But I only came here to talk to you. I promise.”

     Angelica's only reply was to thrash even more fiercely. Penny settled her weight onto the tortoiseshell's side, keeping her easily pinned to the snow, even as the kittypet's limbs flailed for a grip on her pelt. The anger she'd felt before threatened to creep back up, but she forced it down, keeping her tone deliberately even. _If I'm going to learn whether I was wrong, I have to give this a shot._ “I'm not going to hurt you, Angelica,” she mewed carefully. “I promise you that. But it's very important that I speak with you, so I'm just going to hold you here until you calm down so that we can talk.” As she looked over the tortoiseshell, she could see half-healed scratches and clawmarks scattered across her pelt. Guilt sparked in her belly when she realized how deep some of the wounds stretched. _How could I fight that fiercely against a cat just trying to get away?_ she wondered, feeling a moment of disgust for herself. _What kind of gutless rogue am I turning into?_

     The tortoiseshell kept fighting and thrashing to get free. True to her word, Penny raised no claw against her, but simply used her weight to keep the tortoiseshell pinned quietly against the snow. Finally, after what felt like moons, Angelica finally seemed to realize she wasn't going to win. She fell limp under Penny's grasp, the fight dying from her eyes.

     Penny waited several more moments before speaking. “Thank you,” she mewed quietly. Contempt flared in Angelica's eyes for a moment, but it died down as quickly as it had appeared. “Now. I'm going to let you back up. If you yowl for your twoleg and that dog, I'll be gone before they can reach me. I don't want to do that, however. I'd really like to talk to you. This is important. Are you willing to stay and talk with me?” A low growl rumbled in Angelica's throat, but after a few moments, the growl died down, and she gave a slow blink.

     After a pause, Penny decided that was the closest to agreement she was going to get from the kittypet. She slowly raised herself onto her paws, releasing her grip on the tortoiseshell, and backed away. Angelica scrambled back to her paws. For a few moments, the kittypet's gaze darted to the twoleg den, and Penny feared she would run or cry out. But after a long, distrustful glance at Penny, Angelica slowly settled onto her haunches. “Fine,” she spat out, though Penny noted that her tone was a bit more subdued than during their fight. “I'm here. So talk.”

     A thousand questions ran through Penny's mind, but she forced herself to stay focused. “First, I wanted to apologize for hurting you like I did,” she mewed slowly. Her gaze darted over the wounds on Angelica's pelt, including a few deep ones across one shoulder. “I'm not sorry for defending myself, but once you started wailing to be let go, I should've let you go, not kept clawing and biting the way I did. I was ruthless, and I was wrong. So I'm truly sorry.”

     Angelica blinked. She seemed honestly surprised by Penny's words, her pelt fluffing out uncomfortably, and her head tipping slightly to one side. After a few moments, however, suspicion lit in her eyes again. “Well, thanks for that, anyway,” she mewed gruffly. She narrowed her eyes, growling, “Is that all?”

     “No.” Penny took a step towards the kittypet, who bristled at the approach. “I've come to ask why you attacked me that day.”

     The tortoiseshell looked surprised. “Isn't that obvious?” she asked, her hackles beginning to rise.

     “Not to me,” Penny mewed with a shake of her head. “Like I said, I'm sorry for the way I hurt you,” she mewed. “But I honestly don't know why you attacked me. I want to try and understand.”

     Angelica slowly rose back to her paws, her hackles rising slowly as her eyes flashed with fury. “Oh, you want to _understand,_ do you?” she spat, her fangs flashing. She took one step towards Penny, her claws sliding out. “There's nothing to understand, or bargain about, or whatever it is you came here for! Because none of us are going to let BloodClan scum like you hurt us ever again!”

     Penny froze in shock. _BloodClan scum?_ She felt her pelt fluff out, her ears flying back as shock thrummed under her pelt. Whatever she'd been expecting Angelica to say, she would never in a million moons have guessed this. “BloodClan?” she gasped aloud. She took a step closer; Angelica bared her fangs in a snarl, but Penny hardly noticed. “What are you talking about?”

     “You know full well what I'm talking about,” Angelica hissed. “You cats, all of those rogues living together in the town, you're BloodClan all over again. Don't think you've fooled us with your Society talk – we kittypets around here know all about it, and we won't stand for it.” She lashed her tail, growling, “Scourge and his bullies were ruthless to the kittypets of this town. Too many were slain for their collars, for their prey, or just for some sort of sick thrill for your guards. When we heard that BloodClan was back, we knew that we couldn't let that sort of slaughter happen ever again. So we decided to teach ourselves how to fight, to defend ourselves against any BloodClan savages who came our way.”

     A thousand new thoughts ran through Penny's mind. She gaped at Angelica for a few moments, struggling to sift through her thoughts. “But... what in the stars gave you the idea that BloodClan was back in the first place?” she finally managed.

     Angelica growled, “A couple of moons ago, some young cats from the town started harassing the local kittypets. They were rummaging in the garbage cans at night, hunting the birds that our twolegs like to feed, and it was making the twolegs quite upset. So a few of the kittypets met up with those cats and tried asking them to stop. They were sneered at for their troubles.”

     Fear flashed in her eyes for a moment, but she quickly covered it back up with a snarl of anger. “Then, a few nights later, those kittypets were ambushed by your young friends,” she growled. “They were wearing collars spiked with teeth and claws, and they were wearing sharpened dog's teeth over their claws. They clawed up some of the kittypets, and they said they were BloodClan warriors come to teach us sorry kittypets about _respect._ ” The last word was spat out with a tone of contempt. “Every kittypet in town knows the stories of Scourge, and the teeth and claws his cats used as trophies. We knew it was BloodClan all over again.”

     Angelica took another step towards Penny, her claws sliding deeper into the snow. “You can say sorry as many times as you want, it won't change anything. Because as long as BloodClan is on the streets, they won't find us helpless victims like last time. We'll do whatever it takes to defend ourselves. You can be sure of that.” With a final hiss in Penny's direction, she turned and bounded off, racing back towards the twoleg den.

     Penny let her go. The Council member was too overcome with shock and disbelief to do anything to stop the kittypet. Her mind was reeling with all that she'd been told. Slowly, dream-like, she rose to her paws and began padding away.

     As she walked, she let her mind go over what she had been told. If what Angelica had told her was true, it would certainly explain the recent hostility from the kittypets, and their attacks against the Society cats. BloodClan had been known for their vicious attacks against all outsiders, kittypets included, and kittypets had often been targeted so guards could steal their collars for their own use. It would certainly make sense that the local kittypets be terrified and defensive at the thought of a returning BloodClan.

     But her mind still rebelled. The kittypets were the ones who had started attacking innocent cats without provocation – should she really trust their word? Hadn't they proved themselves untrustworthy enough by hurting cats as badly as they had? Chatter could've been crippled after the last attack, and several cats had been left scarred. Angelica could've lied to try and make her own reckless attack seem justified. Besides, what Society cat would take such lengths to frighten kittypets, and where would they have found any tooth-spiked collars to use? Penny wanted more than anything to finally know the truth, but suspicion still weighed heavily in her mind, and she couldn't seem to totally quash it.

     Feeling even more confused and conflicted than when she'd set out that morning, Penny left the den behind her, padding off further into twolegplace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that we're getting to the interesting stuff, I just wanna keep writing so we can get to it. So here's the next chapter. :D
> 
> We see that Penny's really considering what Peggy told her, and is putting an effort into rethinking her actions these last moons. She has also learned from Angelica the apparent reason the kittypets have been attacking the Society cats - but is she telling the truth?
> 
> The next chapter should be a really fun one, so I don't imagine it should take too long for me to write it. ^^ Until next time, then.


	7. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penny debates about what to do with Angelica's story.

Warriors Series 5.5: Echoes of the War  
Novella 3: Penny's Faith  
Chapter Six

     The next day passed in a blur. Penny helped with the trainees and hunted for the den, but she went through all of it as though in a sort of haze. Her denmates seemed to sense her distraction. The other Council members were quiet and patient when speaking with her, and even the trainees seemed less inclined to bother her when she was lost in thought.

     Penny had been trying to avoid thinking about it, but she knew that the behavior of her denmates was no coincidence. Sunny had been avoiding her since their argument, and Penny had caught the subtle glances her denmates cast her whenever Sunny entered the room. It was obvious that the leader had told the rest of the Council what had happened. To their credit, the Council were keeping the glares and looks of accusation down much more than Penny would have expected. But she could still see the little, apprehensive glances they snuck her whenever they thought she wasn’t looking. It was as if they were afraid of setting her off.

     Though Sunny hadn’t said anything to Penny since the argument, Penny knew her leader hadn’t forgotten about it. The words she’d yowled in anger couldn’t be taken back. Penny’s anger had cooled over the last few days, but though she was embarrassed to think of the tone she’d taken, she couldn’t entirely banish her suspicion of Sunny. With the Council acting the way they were, and Sunny avoiding her, Penny knew that any credibility she’d managed to hold onto since Scorch’s exile was shattered.

     She expected that Sunny wouldn’t allow her to remain on the Council for much longer, now that she knew just how deeply Penny distrusted her, and how willing she was to go against the Society to protect her family. The thought frightened her; though she had shunned most of what she’d used to value, deep inside, she did still care about protecting the Society and serving them well. She didn’t want to lose the position that allowed her to do that. And if her Council position was taken from her, what else could she lose? Could she even face exile for her hasty speech? Cold claws of dread clutched at her chest at the thought.

     Even these worries, however, had not been enough to drive what Angelica had told her out of her mind. She had been considering the kittypet’s story much in the day since she’d heard it. While she couldn’t deny that Angelica’s claims would explain the kittypets’ behavior, she still wasn’t sure that she could trust the kittypet’s word. Too much had happened for her to feel she could trust any cat entirely anymore.

     Late that night, after training and her other duties were done for the day, Penny set off for Angelica’s nest. She wasn’t even entirely sure what she was looking for. Angelica seemed to have told Penny everything she knew, but she still felt a vague hope that another talk with the kittypet would magically cure her if her confusion and hesitation. It was the night before the attack; in just a few hours, before the sun had risen, Sunny was due to lead her patrol in battle against the kittypets. Penny had to make her decision of how to act before the attack came. This was her last chance.

     When she reached the nest, however, Angelica was nowhere to be seen. Penny drew closer to the nest, hopping onto a windowsill and peering curiously into the window to try and spot her - only to recoil as a large, blocky head appeared behind the glass. She bristled as she recognized the dog that had attacked her before. Recognition flared in the mutt’s eyes as well; immediately upon sighting her, it let off with a flurry of vicious barking, teeth flashing and eyes blazing with anger. Somewhere in the room with it, a light was flipped on.

     Penny sprang back from the window with a hiss. Snow flew up behind her as she raced desperately away from the den, the furious barking of the dog echoing. She didn't stop running until she'd left the den far out of sight.

     The tabby came to a halt, panting lightly as she glanced back over her shoulder. Her race away from the den had carried her further into the neighborhood and its tangle of dens. She was standing beside the corner of a fence surrounding a garden, the moonlight spilling onto the snowy ground around her and making seem to glow. With a brief glance around herself, she settled herself onto her haunches, beginning to groom herself. Disappointment pricked at her pelt; she'd hoped to have another chance to question Angelica. Now she would have to decide what to tell the Council on her own.

     As Penny continued to groom herself, she was alerted by the soft crunching of snow nearby. She froze. After a moment, she rose silently to her paws, padding forward and peering around the corner of the fence.

     Her pelt fluffed out in shock. On the other side of the street, farther down, Peggy and Sykes were walking side by side. The two self-reliants were talking, though they were too distant for Penny to pick up their words, and Peggy laughed at a joke Sykes seemed to tell. Penny's mind raced with questions. Her daughter's nest was far from this part of twolegplace, and she didn't usually go out this late. What was she doing in this part of town, so dangerous now that the kittypets were being hostile, and why was she here with Sykes?

     Penny's confusion increased as Sykes and Peggy touched noses briefly, then Sykes began to walk off in the other direction, Peggy calling what appeared to be a friendly goodbye after him. The young tabby glanced around herself, as though looking to see if anyone was watching, then set off at a brisk pace. She walked past Penny on the other side of the street; Penny tensed, but Peggy seemed too distracted to notice her. Peggy continued walking, then turned a corner further down the fence line.

     After a moment's hesitation, Penny rose to her paws, padding after her daughter. Confusion and worry for her daughter were tangled up inside her mind. Why would Peggy come to this part of the town alone, this late at night? She doubted Peggy would appreciate her mother spying on her like this, but Penny had to know what she was up to. It was too dangerous for Peggy to be alone, anything could happen, especially now.

     Her confusion grew as Peggy approached a small twoleg nest, striding up to the front door with the confidence of a cat approaching their own nest. Penny hid behind a bush outside of the den, peering through the leaves to watch her daughter. To Penny's shock, Peggy rose onto her hind paws, scratching at the wooden frame with her front paws and letting out a loud meow. Her instincts screamed at her to race to her daughter's side, to pull her out of there, but she forced herself to stay and watch as the front door opened. A female twoleg stood in the door frame, staring down at the cat below. Peggy took a step back, giving a friendly flick of her tail, and a meow of greeting. Dread began to grow in Penny's gut. By the twoleg's lack of surprise, and the friendly cooing she let out at the sight of Peggy, her daughter had met this twoleg before.

     The twoleg looked over its shoulder back into the house, calling out in some sort of yowl, before turning back to coo at Peggy. After a few moments, a small, lithe form appeared beside the twoleg's hind paws. The twoleg reached down a wide, hairless paw to stroke the creature's back as it stepped outside the door towards Peggy. She gave a final coo in Peggy's direction, before stepping back inside and closing the door, leaving the two cats alone outside.

     Penny blinked in surprise. The cat was clearly a kittypet; her cream-and-brown pelt was sleek and soft, and a yellow, jeweled collar sat around her neck. For a moment, Penny worried that the kittypet would attack Peggy, just like the rest of the violent kittypets in the area. But Peggy didn't seem to share her worries. She gave a loud, rumbling purr at the sight of the kittypet, something tender shining in her eyes. The kittypet blinked slowly at Peggy, her blue eyes shining with warmth. As Penny watched, the kittypet approached Peggy, rubbing her muzzle along Peggy's cheek with a purr. Peggy closed her eyes, giving a blissful purr as she leaned into the kittypet's embrace.

     Stunned disbelief crashed over Penny. She hesitated a moment longer, then something hardened in her gut. She and Peggy had fought enough these last days – if she starting keeping secrets from her daughter, Peggy might never forgive her. The tabby stepped out from behind the bush, padding slowly towards the two cats. “Peggy,” she called out in greeting.

     The young cats broke apart, turning to look at Penny. The kittypet merely looked confused, but Peggy's eyes stretched wide in shock at the sight of Penny. “Mother?” she gasped, her pelt fluffing out in shock. She cast a quick, guilty glance in the kittypet's direction, before anger began to harden in her eyes. “What are you doing here? Are you spying on me?” She lashed her tail, taking a small step in front of the kittypet, as if to shield her from Penny.

     Hurt pricked at Penny's heart at the realization that her daughter didn't trust her. She recalled how hostile she'd been to most of the cats Peggy spent time with anymore with a twinge of regret, but the urge to protect Peggy was still strong inside of her. “I was here on Council business and I saw you,” she informed Peggy. It was mostly the truth – the situation with Angelica would be Council business when, if, she informed the Council about it. “I wanted to know what you were doing. It's dangerous in this part of town, Peggy. You know the kittypets have been hostile lately. You could've gotten hurt!”

     Anger flashed in Peggy's eyes. “Oh, for the love of the stars!” she snarled, lashing her tail. “I'm a self-reliant now, mother! I can take care of myself!” Her gaze grew uncertain again for a moment; he glanced at the kittypet again, who gave a small, encouraging blink. She took a deep breath, then drew her gaze up to meet her mother's, her tone becoming serious. “And you don't know as much about the kittypets around here as you think you do.”

     “Neither do you,” Penny protested.

     “Actually, I do.” Peggy took a step back, closer to the kittypet, who leaned her shoulder against Peggy's with a small purr. Her expression was still hesitant, but her mew was rich with warmth as she said, “Isobel, I'd like you to meet my mother, Penny. Mother, this is Isobel... my mate.”

     Penny's pelt fluffed out in shock. “Mate?” she gasped. She stared back and forth between the she-cats, too stunned to do anything other than gape stupidly at them. After everything she and Peggy had said to each other, after all of the anger and resentment from Peggy, and her avoidance of her mother, Penny still hadn't expected anything like this. When she finally got her voice back, she blurted out the first question that came to her mind. “But what about Sykes?” Peggy blinked at her, surprised out of her serious mood for a moment. “I always thought that, you know, you and he...?” Part of the reason she had been so worried about her daughter the last few moons had been because of her closeness with the older tom, and Penny's fear that the rough-around-the-edges tom would somehow take advantage of her trusting daughter.

     Peggy's eyes grew wider. “What, me and him?” she repeated in surprise. “Oh, no, I never saw him that way. Sykes is one of my best friends, and he's one of the few cats I've told about Isobel. He covers for me sometimes when I'm sneaking out to see her. He's been really supportive.”

     “But... why didn't you tell me?” Penny couldn't understand it. She and Peggy had argued recently, but they'd always been so close. Why hadn't Peggy told her something as important as this?”

     The young she-cat grew serious again. She shifted closer to Isobel, who touched her nose to Peggy's ear in a comforting gesture. “Because I was afraid,” she admitted quietly. She settled slowly onto her haunches, Penny and Isobel mirroring her and doing the same. “I met Isobel not long after Father died,” she told her mother. “I was still grieving, and I decided to wander the town for a bit to clear my head.”

     “I found her hunting in my garden,” Isobel picked up the story. There was something very delicate and sleek to the she-cat's look, with her soft pelt and big, blue eyes, but her mew was strong as she spoke to Penny. Her gaze grew soft as she glanced at her mate. “I was still young, and I'd never met a stray cat before. Peggy was so brave and clever, I was fascinated when I met her. I asked her to tell me about her life in the town.”

     Peggy's expression was tender as she gazed back at Isobel. “We got along right away,” she told Penny. “Isobel was so great while I was grieving for Bounce, and she was so smart and funny and beautiful. I fell in love almost right away.” Isobel purred, ducking her head shyly at her mate's praise. “We became mates a little under a moon ago.”

     The tabby turned her gaze back to her mother, something uncertain in her eyes, something defiant. “I wanted to tell you about her, mother,” she mewed quietly. “I really did. But ever since Bounce died, you've been so suspicious of everybody. You yowl at anyone who so much as talks to me these days, and you've been so aggressive against outsiders. I was afraid you'd try to keep me away from Isobel somehow.” She glanced back at Isobel, who gave a warm blink, touching her nose to Peggy's cheek in a comforting gesture.

     Peggy took a deep breath, then turned back to her mother, her expression imploring. This was not the enraged, bitter cat that Penny had been confronted by some nights ago. This was a daughter, hurt and resentful, but trying to make her mother understand. “You've been so controlling lately,” Peggy rasped. “I know you love me, and I know you're scared for me. But I have my own life. It's like everywhere I turn, you're there trying to hold me back because you're scared something will happen. I feel like I can't breathe sometimes. I can't live my life this way, mother. I can't live my life like I'm always being held back by death and fear.” Her stance grew stronger, more determined, as she added, “Don't try to pull me away from Isobel. I know you've had reason to be suspicious of the kittypets around here, but Isobel isn't like that. I know her, and I love her, and I'm not going to let any cat get between us. I love you, but I have to live my own life. I need you to trust me.”

     Penny stared at her daughter, stunned once again into silence. She had thought that her daughter's enraged yowling from a few nights ago had been painful, but this was a different kind of hurt, realizing just how much Peggy had lost faith in her, just how much Peggy felt she'd had to hide from her own mother just to live her life. Peggy was watching her warily now, her pelt pressed firmly against Isobel's, as though she were afraid that Penny would try to push between them. _Just like I pushed between her and Soot,_ she thought, guilt piercing her heart like a claw. _Like I would've pushed between her and Sykes, if I'd thought they'd gotten too close. Oh stars, what have I done?_

     She thought back over her treatment of Peggy, and the other cats of the Society, for the last few moons. Somehow, this time, with her daughter staring at her so uncertainly, she could suddenly see it all in perfect clarity. Her own daughter had been so afraid of how controlling she was that she'd hidden the fact that she was in love from her. Penny had been afraid for her daughter, and she'd let that control her to the point that she had tried to stop Peggy from living her own life. She had nearly ruined her own life by pushing away everyone in the Society she had once loved, and she had tried to take her daughter down with her.

     As much as she tried, she couldn't remember a single conversation with her daughter in the last moon that didn't involve her somehow pushing her daughter to close herself off, or actively pushing other cats away from her. Her stomach was twisting itself into knots the more her mind went over her own actions. It was suddenly painfully clear to her just what a suspicious, controlling, bitter creature she'd become in the last few moons. As her daughter watched her, wearing an expression of worry and fear, fear of her own mother, Penny felt her heart breaking in two. _This is all my fault._

     “Oh, Peggy,” she breathed, her mew rough with pain. Peggy watched her, worry still glowing in her eyes. “I'm sorry. I am so, _so_ sorry.” She took a step towards her daughter, then another, until she was a hair's width from her muzzle. Peggy tensed at her approach, but didn't move away. Her eyes glowed with surprise at Penny's apology. “You're right, you were right about everything, I've been so blind, and I've been treating you so terribly.” Her breath caught in a ragged sob. “My little girl... I can see it now, I've hurt you, I didn't trust you like you deserved, and I was hurting you all along. I'm so sorry!”

     She reached out her muzzle, brushing it against Peggy's cheek with a fierce purr. Her pelt was trembling with emotion, grief and guilt and fear of rejection all raging together like a storm inside of her. Peggy froze at first, clearly stunned by her mother's outburst, before slowly relaxing into Penny's touch. She took a deep, shuddering breath, before murmuring, “I forgive you.” Penny looked up, hardly daring to believe that she had been forgiven so easily. “I know things have been really hard for you lately, I understand. I just... I wish you could've trusted me. I was hurting too, and I just wanted to be able to talk to you, without worrying about you pulling me away from all of my friends.”

     “I know, darling,” Penny murmured. She lowered her gaze, too ashamed to look her daughter in the eyes. “I was so lost after your father died. The whole thing with Scorch... I trusted her, and then after that, it made me afraid to trust anyone. And then when your father died, I was so afraid of losing you too. I didn't want anything bad to happen to you. I let that get in the way of seeing that you weren't a kit anymore, and that I was getting in the way of you living your life. I'm so sorry. I haven't been the mother you deserve.”

     Peggy reached out, nestling her head under Penny's chin for a few moments. “I haven't been perfect either,” she murmured. “I yowled at you and kept avoiding you instead of actually trying to talk about what was wrong. I'm sorry.”

     “You have nothing to apologize for,” Penny mewed. She gave her daughter a few, soft licks on the top of her head, purring despite herself. “It's behind us now. I'd... I'd like the chance to make this up to you. I want things to be right between us.” She glanced at Isobel, adding, “And I'd like to get to know your mate as well. She's part of the family now, after all.” The kittypet blinked, looking surprised, and touched, by Penny's declaration.

     A surprised purr escaped Peggy. She pulled back, looking between her mother and her mate with joy shining in her eyes. “That... that would be wonderful,” she breathed. She glanced back at her mother, her expression softening. “Thank you for understanding,” she murmured. “I love you.”

     “I love you too,” Penny told her. She could still feel the guilt of how she'd been acting in the last moons, but joy had overcome the tightness in her heart. Her daughter had forgiven her, and thought things weren't alright, not right away, she knew that they were going to be okay. She would make this up to Peggy no matter what it took, and now, she would respect her as the wonderful, intelligent self-reliant that she had become.

     Isobel approached Peggy, brushing her muzzle against her cheek. “I'm so happy it all worked out,” she murmured, love shining in her eyes.

     Peggy purred, but after a moment, her gaze grew more serious. “Not all of it,” she said, glancing at Penny. “Mother, you know what's going to happen tomorrow.”

     The tabby's good mood evaporated in an instant. “The battle,” she realized aloud. “Sunny's going to lead the attack on the kittypets.”

     Her daughter nodded. “We can't let it happen,” she said urgently.

     “Peggy and I, we've been talking with the local kittypets, and these attacks, they're not what you think,” Isobel explained, worry glowing in your eyes.

     “I know,” Penny mewed. Her daughter blinked, looking surprised. “I've spoken with one of the kittypets, Angelica. She told me about the cats that attacked some kittypets and claimed they were from BloodClan.”

     Isobel nodded, a grim light in her eyes. “Two young cats ambushed some of the kittypets and attacked them with reinforced claws and bone-studded collars,” she confirmed. “I wasn't there, but Coconut and Oscar told me all about it. Oscar used to be a rogue, she's hard to faze, but she was shaking after that attack. She wasn't even that badly hurt, but the cats around here have grown up with the horror stories of Scourge and his band of savages. They'd do anything to stop that from happening again.”

     “It was Skip and Brindle who attacked those kittypets,” Peggy growled with a curled lip. “They fit Coconut's description of who attacked them, and they've always been a pair of right little pains. They've always acted like kittypets are beneath any other cat. Some of Scourge's former guards buried their collars and reinforced claws around one of the burial grounds after the Society was set up – I bet they uncovered a few of those and decided to give the kittypets a good scare after they tried to tell them off for upsetting the twolegs.”

     Isobel took a step towards Penny, her blue eyes shining with worry. “Please, Penny, the Society can't launch an attack on my neighbors,” she pleaded. “I know it isn't right, what they've been doing, I know innocent cats have been hurt, but a big battle won't make anything better. I know these cats. They'll see it as a sign of war with BloodClan, and they'll be more determined than ever to fight back. Things will get worse than ever.”

     “We've been trying to head this off from our end,” Peggy explained, glancing at her mate. “Isobel's word wasn't enough to convince them about the Society, so she's been introducing me to all of them. They don't believe me about the Society, not with it just being me saying it, but they've started to trust me, I think. But I can't convince them about the Society not being BloodClan. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to reach them if it comes to battle.”

     Penny glanced between the younger she-cats. After a few moments of thought, determination took over. She could feel the passion she'd once felt for her work in the Council bubbling to the surface again, for the first time in moons. “Right,” she said, her tone brisk now. “This is what we're going to do.” Isobel and Peggy both looked up, surprise and hope lighting in their eyes.

     “Peggy, Isobel, gather up all of the kittypets you can find who are involved in all of this,” she ordered briskly. “Leave out any cats who you think are the most likely to be aggressive and start a fight, bring any that you think will listen to reason. If what you say is true, you won't be able to convince them on your own, but you just might be able to get them to agree to a meeting.”

     “A meeting?” Isobel repeated, her eyes growing wide.

     Penny gave a short nod. “Yes. I'm going to go gather the Council now. I don't know how likely they are to listen to me right now, but I have to try. They trusted me, once; I have to hope that they can listen to me at least one more time.” For a moment, the old suspicion crept back up, but she forced it violently away. “Sunny is a reasonable cat,” she mewed, ignoring the itch of worry and suspicion in the back of her mind. “She's determined to protect the Society, but if she really believes that this can be solved peacefully, she'll agree.” Penny rose to her paws, mewing, “I'll bring them back here, and then, we'll just have to hope that we can get them all to see reason.”

     Isobel and Peggy exchanged a worried glance. “Do you really think this will work?” Isobel asked in a hushed tone. “Both sides are so angry right now. If we bring them together, we might just be starting the battle early.”

     Peggy hesitated. Then, with a glance at her mother, her expression became determined. “We have to try,” she told her mate. “This is the only chance we have left to stop this from turning into an all-out war.” She turned to Penny, her gaze softening. “You can do this, mother,” she mewed. “I know you can convince them.”

     Penny paused, taking a moment to wonder whether she was making a huge mistake. She had no guarantee that Sunny would listen to her, or that the kittypets wouldn't start a battle anyway. Then, she gave a brisk shake of her head. There was no more time for doubt or suspicion. Right now, all she could do was trust that her leader was good, that the kittypets weren't evil, that the inherent goodness she had once put so much faith in would prove itself to her today.

     “I know you can too,” she said, already beginning to back again. “But there's no time to waste. Go, now!” She turned and bounded off, leaving Isobel and Peggy behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I did say that I didn't think it'd take me long to write the next chapter. XD Less than twenty-four hours later, and I wrote up 4,500 words. And it's a particularly long chapter as well. Oops. XD Ah well, I really wanted to get this chapter out, for reasons that might be apparent having read the chapter. ^^
> 
> A whole lot of soul-bearing and apologies and making-up this chapter. ^^ Penny's finally seen the error of her ways, she and Peggy have reconciled, and we finally get to meet Peggy's mate, Isobel. I've been waiting for ages to reveal this little twist. ^^ I think it was actually the random idea that popped into my head of giving Peggy a kittypet mate named Isobel (the name just occurred randomly to me one time, it seemed like a nice, graceful-sounding name for a seal pointed cat) that helped me to come up with the rest of the plot for this one. ^^
> 
> Having Isobel's twoleg show up in the chapter was a bit of a last-minute idea, but I really liked the idea of this middle-aged woman knowing about her cat's stray lesbian mate and being totally supportive of it. XD I've grown attached, so I've decided to name this woman Agatha, and I like the idea that she doesn't have a husband or children of her own, she just lives alone with her kitty, but she has a lot of nieces and nephews that she's always supportive of and who all adore her. When she learned about this scrawny stray tabby that kept sneaking around trying to visit her Isobel, she was totally supportive and left food out for Peggy, petting her when Peggy would let her, and always gave her a friendly greeting and let Isobel out to see her whenever she came calling. ^^
> 
> Anyway, I'm not sure how long it'll take me to write the next chapter, but we'll see. Also, unlike the rest of my ten-chaptered novellas, I only have nine chapters planned for this one, so only three left. That's subject to change, but we'll see.


	8. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penny hurries to talk to the Council.

Warriors Series 5.5: Echoes of the War  
Novella 3: Penny's Faith  
Chapter Seven

     Determination kept Penny’s thoughts focused and clear as she raced through twolegplace. She was determined to get to the Council Home as quickly as possible. The hour was late enough that the streets were mostly clear; she only had to slow once to avoid a car. The sky was still dark, but the moon was starting to lower; it wouldn’t be long until dawn. _I have to stop them before Sunny leaves to gather her patrol._

     Her legs were shaking by the time she finally reached the Council Home. She bounded into the den, not even giving herself a chance to catch her breath before calling loudly, “Everyone, wake up!” To her relief, all of the Council were curled up in their nests when she arrived. She had made it in time.

     There was a fair bit of grumbling from the Council members and trainees as Penny’s call roused them. “Great stars, what time is it?” Blink growled, his gray eye glowing with a bleary light. All around him, the rest of the Council were stirring, some lifting their heads and yawning, others just staring blankly ahead. “What's all the noise about?”

     Across the den, Sunny sat up in her nest next to Sniff's, her ice-blue eyes glowing in the darkness. “Penny?” she mewed, her tone wary. “What's going on?”

     Penny dipped her head briefly to her leader. “I'm sorry for waking up everyone up so early, Sunny,” she mewed in a careful tone. Memories of her last conversation with her leader were playing in her mind, but she forced herself to meet her leader's eyes, despite her shame. “But this is extremely important. It can't wait until morning.”

     Sunny narrowed her eyes, but said nothing. Still grumbling, the cats of the Council all rose from their nests, gathering together in a circle in front of the garbage can. The four trainees, as well as Ash and Blink's mate Minerva, gathered nearby, ears perked curiously towards the cats of the Council. Though not allowed to vote on issues themselves, trainees were sometimes allowed to sit in on Council meetings, to listen and to occasionally share their thoughts, as a learning experience. Family of the Council lived in the Council home, and could also listen in on meetings sometimes, though they could not vote.

     “Alright, we're all up,” Beetle grumbled, splitting his jaws in a final yawn. He aimed a glare at Penny as he asked, “Now what's this oh-so-important matter that couldn't wait until a more reasonable hour?”

     Penny looked around the entire circle, making sure she had every cat's attention, before beginning. “It's about the kittypets from the southern part of town,” she explained. Every cat looked instantly more awake. “I believe it would be a serious mistake to attack them.”

     Most of the Council was staring at Penny in stunned disbelief. Shy was blinking rapidly, as though convinced he was still asleep, and Specklefur was openly gaping. Sunny and Sniff exchanged a concerned glance, before Sunny turned her even gaze back to Penny. “I'm confused,” the leader mewed slowly. “You were the one to suggest this attack in the first place. If I remember correctly, you said, 'If they want a war on their paws, then they've got it.'” Penny knew she was not imagining the bitter edge to Sunny's tone. “And now you're saying we're making a mistake?”

     Penny lowered her head, shame washing over her once more. “I was wrong,” she admitted. “I was blinded by my anger and my fear.” She heard a surprised mew from Sniff. “But now I know my mistake, and I've learned the reason behind the kittypets' attacks.” Briefly, she recounted her conversation with Angelica, and the kittypet's explanation for the recent attacks, as well as a truncated version of her conversation with Peggy and Isobel.

     “Why didn't you tell us about it as soon as you were told this?” Tally demanded the moment she was done speaking. Indignation was flashing in the older she-cat's eyes. Penny flinched at the anger in the she-cat's mew as she growled, “We almost attacked a bunch of innocent cats over nothing! A whole war could have started over _nothing!_ ”

     The tabby avoided Tally's furious stare, admitting, “I wasn't sure whether to believe Angelica. I've had a hard time trusting anyone lately, after... well, after what happened with Scorch.” It was the first time she had admitted the effect her near-death experience'd had on her to the Council, and she could hear surprised murmurs rise up from the gathered cats at her words. “But Isobel told me the same story. Seeing her and Peggy together made me realize I had to tell you the truth.”

     “But how do we know it's the truth?” Beetle asked. The tom's eyes were narrowed. “These kittypets could have all come up with this nonsense story about self-reliants pretending to be BloodClan cats together. What makes you think you can trust this Angelica, or Isobel?”

     Penny paused, considering Beetle's words. After a few moments, she raised her muzzle, meeting the silver tom's eyes. “I don't know whether I can trust Angelica,” she admitted calmly. “But after how badly I hurt her, I believe I owe her the benefit of the doubt. As for Isobel, I don't know her very well yet – but my daughter trusts her completely. And after everything that has happened, I trust Peggy's judgment better than my own.”

     A snort emitted from the trainees' direction. “Ha, that's a change,” Sparkplug grumbled. The Council members turned to look, or glare, at the trainee. She met their gazes with a confused look. “What? We all heard her rambling on about how unsafe it was for Peggy to go hunting on her own, like she's still some sort of kit. Didn't sound like she trusted her to me.”

     Embarrassment flooded through Penny. “You're right,” she mewed. “I didn't trust her. But I was wrong, and I saw that tonight. While I've been fretting over her, she's been spending her time trying to prove herself to these kittypets and avert a war.” Her ears flattened back against her head as she admitted, “She's been far more responsible this last moon or so than I have been. I believe she's right, that we should give these kittypets a chance to talk things through, and we should try to resolve this peacefully.”

     There was silence for a few moments as the Council members each considered Penny's words. Tally still seemed annoyed, but had brightened at the prospect of a peaceful solution. Shy's expression was unreadable as ever, but Snuggle looked relieved, glancing hopefully at his sister. Beetle and Specklefur still seemed suspicious, but Blink was nodding slowly, looking thoughtful. Sunbeam cast a curious glance at Tawny, who narrowed her eyes in response. Penny held her breath, waiting to see whether they would accept her suggestion.

     Finally, Sunny spoke. “We did not decide on this course of action lightly, Penny,” she mewed firmly. “I don't like the idea of battle any more than any other cat, but these kittypets have been very aggressive, and they've turned away all previous attempts at talking things through. For all we know, we could be walking into a trap. I want to solve this peacefully, but I won't put our cats in danger unless there's a real chance at making peace.”

     “I understand,” Penny murmured. It took a lot of will to meet her leader's gaze, but she forced herself to keep her head up. “But I truly believe that this is our best shot at solving this peacefully. And I believe Isobel when she says that attacking these cats will only make them more paranoid and aggressive. This might be our only chance to avoid an all-out war.”

     She turned her gaze to each member of the Council in turn, speaking each word clearly for all to hear. “I know I've been suspicious and hard to deal with these last few moons,” she told them. “I've been a burden to this Council – I have no right to ask for your trust now. I understand if you can't trust me anymore at all. But this is not just about me. This is about the well-being of the entire Society. I lost sight for a long time of what was most important, but my true passion is, has always been, the protection of the innocent and of this Society. I truly believe that this is the best course we can take to not only protect the Society, but every innocent cat who lives in this town.” She met Sunny's eyes directly as she concluded, “I don't deserve it, but I'm asking you trust me, and to trust my daughter, and Isobel – this is for the benefit of the Society.”

     Sunny's gaze was fixed, sharp and unyielding, on Penny. Shame pricked in the back of her mind, but she forced herself not to look away, meeting her leader's gaze evenly. The rest of the Council waited in silence. They seemed to sense the tension between the two she-cats. Finally, after what felt like moons, Sunny blinked. She turned her gaze slowly to the rest of the Council, murmuring, “We will take a vote on this matter. Those against talking to the kittypets, leave the circle, those for it, stay.” Her expression was unreadable.

     There was a few moments of pause. Then, cats began to move. Beetle stepped back almost immediately, Specklefur following him after a moment's hesitation. A few moments later, Tawny stepped back as well. To Penny's surprise, Shy stepped back, but Blink remained in the circle, his expression determined. Penny held her breath as she watched Sunny. The leader's vote counted for three – with four out of the circle and six in it, Sunny could tip things in favor of those voting against. But after several moments, Sunny just settled more firmly onto her haunches, wrapping her tail firmly around her paws.

     Penny waited a few moments longer, but it seemed that everyone who was going to move had done so. A surprised huff of laughter escaped her. She had done it – the Council had voted to speak with the kittypets.

     Sunny wasted no time. “Very well,” she mewed briskly. “Then we will set out immediately. Spirit and Mousetrap's nests are on the way there, and they were supposed to be on the battle patrol anyway – we'll pick them up on the way. Penny, Sniff, Sunbeam, you're coming too. The rest of you, keep an eye on things while we're away. If we're not back by the time the sun peaks over the tallest dens, send another patrol.”

     The cats Sunny had called on gathered quickly to her side. Anxiety began building in Penny's gut. She'd done her part – but would the kittypets be open to talking? Or had she just hastened the battle?

**SCENEBREAK**

     To Penny's relief, the kittypets were already gathered in front of Isobel's den when the Society cats arrived. Peggy and Isobel were there, with five other kittypets, Angelica among them. The tortoiseshell stiffened when she saw Penny, but after a few moments, she merely looked away with a lash of her tail.

     Sunny stood at the front of the patrol. Penny stood on one side of her, Sniff on her other side, while Sunbeam, Spirit, and Mousetrap hung back behind them. They all came to stand before the kittypets, who regarded them all warily. “Greetings,” Sunny said in a clear, strong tone. Her icy gaze swept over the crowd of kittypets. “My name is Sunny, and I am the leader of the Society of the Street. This is my mate, Sniff, and Penny, both members of our Council.” She gestured to the cats behind her, mewing, “Sunbeam is a member of our Council as well, Spirit is one of our border guards, and Mousetrap is a self-reliant.”

     The kittypets glanced at each other warily. Finally, a black-and-white tom stepped forward. “My name's Tucker,” he mewed in a gruff tone. A purple collar sat around his neck. He gestured sharply behind him, mewing, “That's Oscar, Angelica, Olivia, Coconut, Isobel, and I guess you all know Peggy already.” The ginger tabby dipped her head. She looked as tense as every other cat felt about the meeting, but she seemed perfectly comfortable sitting among the kittypets, and none of them seemed suspicious of her. “Peggy's a decent sort. It's on her word that we're meeting here today – but that doesn't mean we're ready to just go on one cat's word that we can trust you.” He flattened his ears back, mewing in a hard voice, “How do we know that this isn't some sort of BloodClan ambush?”

     Sunny regarded the tom calmly. “You can see for yourself, there are no tooth-spiked collars on any of us,” she mewed in an even tone. Penny sent a silent prayer of thanks to the Cats of the Stars that Sunny hadn't chosen Blink to come on this patrol – he was the only cat left on the Council to bear a collar from Scourge's old guard. “Our neck fur isn't mussed – none of us have had a collar on in the recent past.” Tucker narrowed his eyes, but didn't argue her point. “We came here in good faith. All we want to do is talk.”

     Before Tucker could speak, Coconut took a step forward. Penny recognized the tabby as Angelica's denmate, who had rushed to her side after the attack. Fury glowed in the tom's eyes as he spat, “Why should we believe any of you? Oscar and I were attacked by BloodClan warriors! I know what I saw, I didn't make it up!” He turned his furious gaze on Penny, spitting, “That tabby there tore my denmate to pieces – you're all savages!”

     He took a step towards Penny, lashing his tail furiously. It almost looked like he was about to attack, but to Penny's surprise, Angelica cut him off. “Leave it be, fluffbrain,” she mewed in a firm tone, though there was warmth in her eyes as she glanced at her denmate. “I'm fine now, and well, if these cats really just want to talk, maybe we should give them the chance.” Penny stared at the kittypet in shock. Last time she'd spoken to Angelica, the tortoiseshell had been spitting fury. Angelica broke away from her denmate's gaze for a moment to look at Penny. For a moment, shame colored her gaze. She gave Penny a brief nod, then stepped back, Coconut reluctantly stepping back beside her.

     While Coconut had been ranting, the she-cat Oscar had been staring at Sunny, her eyes narrowed. After several moments, her eyes flew open wide in recognition. “You...” she hissed, her gaze suddenly hard. “The pelt isn't right, but the stories all say that Scourge was nearly the size of a kit, with one white paw and eyes like ice... you're nearly his image!” All of the other kittypets stiffened, staring at Sunny with near fear, and new hatred.

     For a moment, uncertainty glowed in Sunny's eyes. Then determination took over. “It's true,” she mewed clearly. “Scourge of BloodClan was my father.” Hisses and snarls broke out from the kittypets at this, but Sunny continued to speak over them. “I was three moons old when my father died. My mother Sushi raised me in the forest, away from BloodClan and their cruelty. I was raised to believe in the value of all life, and the protection of the weak and the innocent. When my brothers and I were grown, my mother brought us back to twolegplace. She took over the leadership of BloodClan, and she changed them for the better.”

     “Liar!” Olivia hissed. “Savages like that don't change!”

     Sunny met the tortoiseshell's gaze calmly. “Sushi exiled the most brutal of Scourge's followers,” she explained. “None of them have been seen for seasons. The rest came together to form a new set of rules, a Code of the Street, that would charge every cat to only hurt others in self-defense, to care for each other, to defend the weak, and to honor all life. We have lived as the Society of the Street for nearly four and a half leafbares. We have lived peacefully, without preying on loners or kittypets as my father's Clan did.” She took a step towards the kittypet, mewing clearly, “I have come to you in peace tonight, to try and find a way to come to an understanding. I don't want to see innocent cats hurt.”

     “Neither do we,” Tucker grunted. Though his eyes were still narrowed in suspicion, he seemed calmer and more inclined to listen than his fellow kittypets. A few white hairs could be seen speckling his black patches – he was clearly the oldest of the present kittypets. “But you must understand our concern. Scourge and his guards were particularly cruel to kittypets. My mother's sister was savaged to death by one of Scourge's guards. My mother never dared to stray past her garden again after Molly's death.” Sunny's eyes widened at this, but she said nothing. “Any kittypets that dared to leave their fence lines were in danger of being attacked, or even killed. Can you blame us for being terrified at the idea of BloodClan's return?”

     “Certainly not,” Sunny agreed calmly. “But can you blame us for being wary after so many of our cats have been attacked without provocation? One young tom was nearly crippled a few days ago.” Tucker's eyes widened, and Angelica made a small noise of surprise, shame glowing in her eyes. “Understandable though your fear may be, it was rash to just start attacking any cat that came your way. Innocent cats of my Society have been hurt because of your attacks.”

     Olivia snarled, taking a step towards Sunny as though to attack, but Isobel quickly blocked her. “She's right,” the cream kittypet hissed. “I said from the start it was foolish to start attacking any cats who walk past our gardens. Innocent rogues could've been hurt for all you fluffbrains knew. We have to take responsibility for what's been done.” The cream she-cat was smaller and lither in build than Olivia, but she faced the tortoiseshell bravely, determination flashing in her blue eyes. Olivia hesitated, then backed up a step, tail lashing in frustration.

     Tucker cast a sharp glance back on Olivia, then turned back to the Society cats. “I admit, it wasn't the most rational decision we could have made,” he mewed gruffly. “But BloodClan is known for their ruthlessness. We felt we must do what we could to defend ourselves, because otherwise we'd be open to attack ourselves.”

     “And all of this winging and whining is based on the idea that we _haven't_ been attacking BloodClan cats,” Oscar growled, her yellow eyes flashing dangerously. “You've said some pretty words, but how do we know for sure you aren't BloodClan? I saw those bone-studded collars myself, and I felt the reinforced claws on my pelt. I grew up on the street – I know the stories of BloodClan, and as long as you're determined to bring them back, I'll fight as fiercely as I need to.”

     “We're _not_ BloodClan,” Peggy mewed, cutting off Sunny's reply. Oscar glanced back at the ginger tabby, her expression softening a bit, but her hackles were still raised. Penny felt a surge of pride as Peggy continued. “You all know me. I love Isobel, and I would never do anything to hurt her, or any kittypet. I was raised in the Society, I know them, they're good cats. Please. I don't want to see a war started over nothing.”

     “No one's accusing you of trying to hurt anyone, Peggy,” Olivia grunted. “You're a good sort. But it's still not proof that the cats that attacked Oscar and Coconut weren't part of a restarted BloodClan.”

     Sunny narrowed her eyes. Before she could protest again, a yowl sounded nearby. “Sunny, I found them!” Every cat turned to look to see who had called out. A sleek black tom and a larger black-and-white tom were approaching the group of gathered cats, two younger cats trailing behind them.

     The leader's expression softened. “Snuggle, Shy,” she called out in a warm tone. The kittypets stiffened, a few hissing at the new arrivals, but Tucker watched them calmly. “Good, I was hoping you'd arrive soon.” Penny felt a pang of relief at the sight of them. Now the truth could come out.

     “Before we left for this meeting, I sent my brothers on an errand,” Sunny explained to the kittypets. “They've brought these two young cats to speak to you today, to explain themselves.” Shy glanced back at the cats behind him, jerking his chin sharply for them to follow. They stepped forward, ears pinned back and annoyance flashing in their eyes.

     Coconut's ears flew back, and Oscar gave a sharp hiss at the sight of them. “That's them!” she snarled, eyes blazing with sudden anger – and fear. She took a step back. “Those are the BloodClan cats who attacked us!”

     Skip and Brindle's pelts were both bristling. They stared around them, contempt and annoyance and anxiety mixed together in their expressions. “What is that pellet-muncher babbling about?” Brindle sneered, glaring at Oscar. Shy silenced her with a sharp hiss, and Snuggle glared at her with unusual anger in his eyes.

     Sunny strode up to the young self-reliants, her expression hard with anger, eyes glinting like chips of ice. “Skip, Brindle,” she greeted in a cold tone. “You attacked these kittypets without provocation.” Skip opened his mouth to protest, but Penny directed a hiss his way, and he fell reluctantly silent. Sunny took a step even closer, every muscle tense, a growl low in her throat. Skip tried to look unconcerned, but even he looked intimidated at the anger of his tiny leader. “Explain yourselves right now, both of you!” Sunny snapped in a sudden burst of anger.

     Both Skip and Brindle flinched away from Sunny's fury. “W-we were just having a laugh!” Skip blurted out, his green eyes gleaming with fear. “They kept yowling at us about bothering their twolegs or something stupid like that. We just thought it would shut them up about it so we could hunt and scrounge for garbage in peace.”

     “In _their_ territory,” Penny pointed out, anger pulsing through her pelt. These two selfish, stupid young cats had nearly started a war because of their prejudice.

     “Tell these kittypets the truth, right now,” Sunny hissed in an icy tone. “Tell them what you really are.”

     The two self-reliants exchanged a brief glance, before Brindle turned to the kittypets. “We're not from BloodClan,” she admitted, annoyance coloring her tone, but she was clearly too intimidated by Sunny to disobey. “Those collars and dog's teeth were just leftover from the days of BloodClan – we dug them up. We just wanted to scare you.” Her condescending glare fell on Coconut and Oscar, who glared right back. “We're self-reliants of the Society – which is still better than being a sniveling little _kittypet._ ”

     “That's enough from you two,” Shy growled. Brindle fell silent, glaring at Shy.

     Sunny turned back to the kittypets. “Trust me when I say that these two foolish young cats will face punishment for what they have done. But now you've heard it from their own mouths. There is no more BloodClan – only two prejudiced, selfish young cats who thought they were better than everyone else. Please, I ask of you, don't start a war between us over the actions of two cats. We are the Society of the Street. We believe in peace and the value of life. We are _not_ my father's Clan.” Snuggle and Shy came to stand silently beside their sister, Sniff and Penny stepping back to let them. The three children of Scourge stood together, not the bloodthirsty tyrants their father would have made them, but as defenders of peace and the innocent. In that moment, Penny could feel nothing but pride and admiration for her leader. _Sushi would be so proud of her,_ she thought.

     The kittypets exchanged glances, communicating silently. Several moments stretched out the silence. Every cat was holding their breath as they waited for their reply. Finally, Tucker took a step forward. To Penny's surprise, he dipped his head respectfully to Sunny. “I can see now the mistake we've made,” he rumbled. The gruffness was gone from his tone, replaced by shame. “If these two fluffbrains admit themselves that they aren't BloodClan, and they're the only ones who've had the spiked collars or who've acted in any way like BloodClan cats... we were wrong to let ourselves be fooled by the actions of two acting alone. I... I apologize, for my own actions and for those of my friends.”

     The tension had died down between the two groups. Even Coconut and Olivia had lowered their hackles, and were looking embarrassed over their mistake. Sunny's expression softened at Tucker's words. “I accept your apology – as long as you can guarantee that these attacks won't continue,” she mewed, her tone warmer than before.

     Tucker glanced back at the other kittypets. “I can't speak for every cat, they're not all here, after all,” he grunted. “But I'll make sure to speak to all of them. They're scared, but we've all seen for ourselves that we were wrong, and I know we can convince them.” He turned back to Sunny, his tone more solemn as he mewed, “And if there are any more attacks, I'll take care of things myself. I'll make sure everyone keeps their claws to themselves, you have my word.”

     “Thank you,” Sunny mewed, dipping her head to the kittypet. “And I'll make sure that my cats are respectful of your cats' territory and twolegs.”

     Something almost friendly entered Tucker's tone. “I think things are going to work out fine, then,” he mewed, his yellow eyes gleaming with a warmer light.

     Relief crept through Penny's pelt as the truth finally dawned on her. Peggy and Isobel were nuzzling, joy shining in their eyes, Snuggle was purring deeply as he touched his nose to Shy's ear, and Angelica glanced towards Penny, giving a tiny nod of acknowledgment. She had done it. The war between kittypet and Society had been averted, and it had been because of her, Peggy, and Isobel's efforts. For the first time in seasons, she felt a true sense of accomplishment, of having actively helped her Society.

     As the meeting began to break up, Penny approached Peggy and Isobel, touching her nose to her daughter's ear. “I'm so proud of you,” she murmured. “This would've ended very differently tonight if you hadn't got it through my thick head that we could solve this peacefully, and you did so much work to get these kittypets to trust you.”

     Peggy's purring echoed in Penny's ears as the tabby leaned into her mother's touch. “Thank you, mother,” she purred. As she pulled back, something sad lit up in her eyes. “I... I wish Bounce could have been here tonight,” she admitted.

     The familiar ache sat in Penny's chest at the mention of her lost mate. But for once, that pain was mixed with the joy of the night's accomplishment, and with pride for her daughter. “I do too,” she told Peggy. “But we've still got each other. And I know that if he had been here tonight, he would have been just as proud of you as I am.”

     Joy lit up in Peggy's eyes. Without another word, she brushed her muzzle against Penny's, purring deeply. As Penny pressed against her daughter's cheek, she thought she could see Sunny watching her with a flicker of pride in her eyes. She closed her eyes, purring. _Oh Bounce,_ she thought. _I hope you're watching over us tonight... and I hope that I've made you proud._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't planning on this chapter being quite this long, but there wasn't really a way to cut it down without omitting anything important. Ah well. :P Here's an extra-long one for ya then. ^^
> 
> We get to see the resolution of the kittypet conflict, and we see Penny admit her mistakes and try to make up for them. We're not quite at the end yet - we've got two more chapters. The kittypets have backed down, but there's still some stuff to address, and still some things for Penny to do. ^^
> 
> Also, I finally made designs for Lotus and Delilah, and their brothers. ^^ Here they are:
> 
> Lotus: https://jayie-the-hufflepuff.deviantart.com/art/Lotus-of-the-Society-of-the-Street-Penny-s-Faith-718364489  
> Delilah: https://jayie-the-hufflepuff.deviantart.com/art/Delilah-of-the-Society-of-the-Street-PF-718575973  
> Casper: https://jayie-the-hufflepuff.deviantart.com/art/Casper-the-Kittypet-No-Appearances-719296050  
> Soldier: https://jayie-the-hufflepuff.deviantart.com/art/Soldier-the-Rogue-No-Appearances-718990521
> 
> Oh, and does anyone recall who Molly is? ^^ That was a seriously last-minute addition, but literally while I was typing that paragraph, I remembered that Molly was black-and-white, and that it would make sense for her to be related to Tucker, it would help explain the (perfectly understandable) prejudice against BloodClan. ^^
> 
> I can't really think of what else I wanted to say. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be done, we'll have to see. Happy Holidays, y'all. :D I'm so freaking psyched for Christmas this year. I got to help my parents pick out our tree together in the snow yesterday, and with all of the decorations up, the tree(s) decorated, and with listening to the music and watching Christmas movies, I'm just so happy it's the holiday season. I love this time of year. :D


	9. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some days later, Penny takes the trainees for a training session.

Warriors Series 5.5: Echoes of the War  
Novella 3: Penny's Faith  
Chapter Eight

     “Yeee-oww!”

     With an undignified squawk, Felix’s grip on the pipe slipped, and he was sent falling back, landing in an awkward tangle of limbs on the mound of snow gathered beside the wall.

     Penny trotted up to him, desperately trying and failing to hide the twitching of her whiskers. “That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but good effort.” Behind her, the rest of the trainees were snickering, watching the failure of their denmate.

     Several days had passed since the meeting with the kittypets. In that time, Penny had thrown herself back into her work with the Council, dividing her time between the Council and her daughter. She was determined to prove herself a valuable member of the Society once again, and to mend her relationship with Peggy. That day, she had agreed to take all of the trainees out training for a while, giving the other Council members a break. Everything wasn't better, not all the way, but Penny's heart was lighter than it had been in moons. She felt like she was truly living again.

     Felix managed to right himself, shaking snow from his creamy pelt. “I wasn’t expecting the pipe to be that cold!” he complained. “And it’s all icy at the top... how is any cat supposed to climb that?”

     “I never said it would be easy,” Penny purred, mew tinged with amusement. “But in an environment like Twolegplace, learning how to climb is essential.” Without another word, she turned and bounded towards the wall that Felix had been attempting to climb. She launched herself up onto the pipe, wrapping her forelegs around it while using her hind legs to propel herself upward. She was able to quickly shimmy up the pipe, using the bend at the top as a grip to leap off of as she reached for the roof. Once she had a grip on the roof, she pulled herself up in a fluid motion, spinning around on the spot so she was standing and facing the trainees down below.

     “Whoa!” The trainees stared up at her, calling out with admiring meows. Even Sparkplug, who had managed the climb already, had her eyes lit up with admiration.

     Penny purred, settling onto her haunches as she looked down at her charges. “This isn't a wooden fence or a tree – digging in your claws won't do much for you here,” she called down, glancing at Felix in particular. The tom seemed to have mostly gotten over his embarrassment, and was listening eagerly. “For this kind of climb, a strong grip, and using your hind legs to push yourself up rather than pulling up with the front paws, will do the job.” She let her gaze travel over all of the cats below her. “The street holds many dangers,” she informed the trainees. An image of Bounce stretched out on the street flashed in her mind, but she pushed it away, in a motion she found easier by the day. “Dogs and twolegs pose a threat to us, and monsters make crossing even the narrowest streets a risk. One of the ways you must learn to navigate our territory more safely is by hopping from roof to roof, using climbing to avoid the dangers the ground poses. It isn't always an option, of course, and it poses its own dangers, but it is an essential skill to learn when living among twolegs.”

     She lifted her chin, feeling a surge of pride. “This isn't a forest that changes only with the seasons and the slow march of time,” she said. “To live in a world crafted by twolegs is to live in a world of constant change. Everything is in constant motion – nothing ever stays the same. Twolegs are constantly changing this town, and since we have chosen to live here, we must change with it. It's not an easy place to live, but that's why our greatest strength is our ties to each other. We must rely on each other to learn and to adapt, and to defend the values we all hold dear.” Penny lashed her tail, her claws digging deep into the snow. “We are the Society of the Street!”

     Excited mews rose from the crowd of trainees at Penny's words. She watched them a moment longer, then leaped down from the roof, landing neatly in front of them. “Now come on,” she purred, nudging Owl playfully with one paw. “Back to it! Owl, why don't you try next?”

     The small tabby scowled. “I'll just fall again,” she protested. “My legs aren't long enough to wrap around like that. I'm too small to keep up.”

     Penny's whiskers twitched. Owl was so like her father Shy in many ways – but she had her mother's stubbornness and impatience sometimes as well. “You've just started your training,” she reminded Owl in a friendly mew. “You'll get there. We all have our different strengths, size doesn't equal strength – just look at Sunny.” She flicked her tail, adding, “But the only way to improve is through practice. So get up there!”

     Owl cast an uncertain glance towards Penny, then shrugged and turned away, bounding towards the wall. Penny purred as she watched the trainee start attempting to climb the pipe. _Yes, we must change to keep up with the changing times,_ she thought to herself as Owl slowly shimmied her way up the pipe. _And I think I know just the change that we have to make next._

**SCENEBREAK**

     “This meeting of the Council is now officially in session.”

     Penny's gaze traveled around the circle of Council cats. All of them were gathered together, and the trainees and family of the Council were gathered some paces away as well. It was a few nights later, and the Council were meeting again – and again, it was at her request.

     Sunny turned her icy gaze to Penny. “Alright, you've asked us all to meet here,” she mewed. Her tone was friendlier than it had been at the last Council meeting, but there was still a wary edge there. “What's this about?”

     Penny dipped her head briefly to her leader, then turned her gaze back to the rest of the Council. “I know I've been difficult to deal with lately,” she began. A few cats looked away, unwilling to respond, but others just gazed at her sympathetically. “But I truly care about the welfare of our Society. And if there's anything that this last moon has taught me, it's that we must grow and change to make sure our Society – and our lives – are the best that they can be. We have to let go of the past that pains us, and look to the future. What the kittypets did was wrong, but cats like Skip and Brindle have shown us that we can be wrong too. And I think I know a way that we can change that will help make the future better for every cat in twolegplace.”

     She lifted her chin, calling out in a strong mew, “I would like to make a proposal to the Council today. I propose that we add a new rank to the Society – the rank of ambassador.”

     Surprised mews rose up from the gathered Council cats. Beetle was staring at her in shock, and Specklefur was swapping an uncertain glance with Tawny. Sunbeam's tail shot up, but the joy shining in her eyes told Penny that her surprise was a pleasant one, and the same seemed true of Tally. But Sunny's expression was as unreadable as ever. “And what would be the role of these ambassadors in our Society?” was all she asked.

     “It would be the job of our ambassadors to meet regularly with the rogues, loners, and kittypets who populate this town and do not count themselves as members of this Society,” Penny explained. “Potentially, they could also meet with cats who live near our borders, especially if any large groups like the Clans take up residence nearby. They will make sure these cats are aware of us and how we live, though it won't be their job to pressure anyone to live by our ways, and they will make sure there's open communication between our Society and the cats who live outside of it. Their task will be to bring any complaints or offers or communication of any kind from outsiders to the Council, to avoid any kind of misunderstandings like we've seen these last days.

     In a firmer tone, she added, “It will also be their job to keep the rest of the Society from being too isolated from the rest of the world. They will speak with the members of our Society about those that live outside of it, and they will bring those willing on meetings with kittypets and loners, and they will teach acceptance and tolerance. We've seen it for ourselves – isolation breeds prejudice. As moral as we try to be, if cats as violently prejudiced as Skip and Brindle can be the result of our teachings, it means that we need to try harder. I think this is the best way not only to protect our Society from attacks stemming from miscommunication, but also to combat bigotry from within our own ranks.” She let her gaze sweep around the circle, carefully measuring the reactions of her fellow Council members. “So now I put it into your paws – what do you say to the addition of the rank of ambassador?”

     There was a few moments of silence as her fellow Council members exchanged glances. Tally was the first to speak. “I think it's a wonderful idea,” the she-cat mewed brightly. She gave Penny an approving nod, her gaze far more friendly than at the last meeting. “I've seen for myself what happens when bullies get the run of the place. The best thing we can do to prevent Scourge's kind of savagery is to be open and accepting of our differences.”

     “It certainly would have helped prevent this situation with the kittypets long before it got this bad,” Blink mewed. His tone was gruff, but there was warmth in his gray eye as he gazed at Penny.

     Specklefur seemed hesitant as he spoke up. “I don't know,” he mewed. “That sounds like a lot of work, and we already have several ranks. We don't want to stretch our Society too thin trying to get every job done.”

     “If it will help make things right between our Society and those who live differently, then it's work worth doing,” Shy mewed firmly. It was rare for Shy to speak up during Council meetings, but there was determination in his tone as he spoke now. “We can only find out what works and what doesn't for our Society by trying it. Whether it'll work or not, we'll have to try it and see, but Penny has done well to try and think of a way to address this issue.” He glanced at Penny, giving her a brief, approving nod. Pride surged in Penny's chest.

     Sunny was silent as the Council debated. When no more opinions seemed forthcoming, she spoke in an even tone – though Penny thought she could hear a tinge of pride there. “Very well. If no one else has anything to add, we will begin the vote. Those against the addition of an ambassador to our ranks, leave the circle. Those for it, stay.”

     There was a brief pause. Specklefur hesitated, glancing at his fellow Council members, before lowering his head with a thoughtful flick of his tail. No one else moved, even as the silence stretched on. Penny couldn't believe it. The decision was unanimous – ambassadors would now be added to the ranks of the Society.

     “So be it, then,” Sunny finally spoke. Now the pride was clear to hear in her mew. “Now all that remains is to select our first ambassador.”

     Penny spoke up. “I have a suggestion for that as well. I believe our first ambassador should be my daughter, Peggy.” A few cats looked surprised, but Snuggle was nodding eagerly, and warmth shown in Sunbeam's eyes. “She has shown a great talent for connecting with others by listening to their needs and addressing their concerns. This past moon, she has shown great responsibility and loyalty, and has helped avert us from the course of war. I can think of no better cat to serve as our first ambassador.”

     Sunny’s eyes shone as she regarded Penny. “Your daughter is young for such responsibility,” she mewed. “But she has proven with recent events that she would bear such responsibility well.” With a look around the circle, she quipped, “I don’t believe this will need to be a long vote?”

     The cats of the Council glanced at each other, then, one by one, mewed their agreement. It was unanimous once again. Peggy was to be their new ambassador.

     Sunny turned towards the trainees. “Owl, Ember, go to Peggy’s den,” she ordered, a bright gleam in her eyes. “Bring her here. If she accepts our offer, then she will be welcomed as the official first ambassador of the Society.”

     Mews of approval rose from the Council. Penny felt pride swelling in her chest, for her daughter, for herself, for her Society and the step they’d taken. As the meeting broke up and everyone headed to their nests for the night, Penny stood to do the same - only to stop as something caught her eye. Instead of heading for her nest, Sunny was padding towards the den’s entrance, something wistful in the twitch of her tail. After a moment’s hesitation, Penny followed her.

     Sunny was already outside by the time Penny reached the entrance. She saw the moonlit silhouette of her leader leading up onto a garbage can against the wall, then up onto the roof. Penny bounded after her, leaping easily onto the can, then onto the roof after.

     When Penny stood from her landing, Sunny was seated at the edge of the roof, looking out into the town beyond. She looked up as the younger cat approached. “Ah, Penny,” she greeted. There was a subdued edge to her tone, though she was clearly trying to be friendly. “Come to keep me company?”

     “If that’s alright,” Penny mewed. Though things had gotten better since the meeting with the kittypets, she could still feel tension between herself and her leader, all of the words she’d screamed at Sunny lingering like a barrier between them. It was the first time she’d been alone with Sunny since then - and she didn’t want to waste this opportunity. “May I sit?”

     At Sunny’s nod, Penny came to sit beside her leader. A tense silence hung between the two she-cats for several moments. Sunny was the first to break it. “I meant to ask earlier. How's your mother doing?”

     “Alright,” Penny mewed, feeling the familiar twinge of sadness at the thought of Tire. “She's still weak, but at least she's not any worse than before.” The thought of losing her mother pained Penny as deeply as ever, but she knew now that whatever came next, her Society would stand beside her. While she had been trying to repair her relationship with Peggy, she had also made an effort to spend more time with her family, while she still had them beside her. She'd visited Tire and Flash frequently, and she'd gone hunting several times with Puddle. They had stood beside her all the time she'd struggled with fear and suspicion, and it felt good to know they were still beside her now.

     “That's good,” Sunny murmured. The she-cat seemed unfocused, her tone dull with sadness. She was still gazing out into the distance, her tail twitching slowly at her paws.

     Penny let the silence stretch on for a few moments more, then finally spoke. “Sunny, I want to apologize for the things that I said, when I blamed you for what Scorch did.” Sunny still wouldn't look at her. Penny watched her leader's reaction carefully, wondering what was going through the tiny she-cat's mind. Shame weighed heavy in her heart as she remembered how she'd ranted at her leader. “I believed it when I said it, but I was blinded by my fear, and I was cruel. I'm sorry.” She hesitated. “I... I was worried that you blamed me for what Scorch did. I was afraid, nearly dying like that made it so hard to trust – I was seeing enemies all around me. But it doesn't excuse what I said.”

     Sunny was silent for several moments more, her eyes glazed over as she stared vacantly out into her town. When she did speak, her mew was flat and dull. “When you said those things, it made me remember everything I was thinking and feeling the day that it happened,” she rasped. “The day that I learned that my own daughter was willing to murder to get what she wanted. It made me remember all of the pain, and all of the doubts and the fear that I felt on that awful day, because I could see all of it in your eyes.” She finally turned to look at Penny. The younger she-cat was stunned by how ancient her leader appeared in that moment, by how deeply the grief in her eyes seemed to age her. “I didn't want to face what you were saying, Penny, because I never blamed you for what my daughter became – I blamed myself.”

     Penny could do nothing but gape wordlessly at her leader, too overcome with surprise and emotion to respond. Sunny went on, “The first few days after it happened, I kept going over every moment of my daughter's life over and over in my mind. I kept searching for the little moments, the mistakes I made, the signs I should have seen, the things that should have told me that my daughter was becoming a monster.” Sunny was beginning to shake now, her pelt trembling with emotion as her voice began to crack. “I was her _mother_. I should have known. How could I have been so _blind,_ how could I have so badly understood the mind of my own daughter? What kind of mother am I, that I knew so little about my own daughter's heart? What did I do to make her this way? What could I have done differently?”

     Sunny paused for a moment, then took a deep breath, clearly trying to collect herself. “I've been worried about you ever since it happened, Penny,” she said, her mew still shaking. “I wanted more than anything to fix what my daughter had broken. I never told the Council what you said, not even Sniff or my brothers. I just told them that you've been under a lot of pressure lately and to go easy on you. I wanted to give you the space to work things out.” For a moment, her eyes narrowed, and her mew was stern once more. “Let me be clear – I wouldn't have let you use your anger and your fear to lash out against my family, or my Council and Society. I was ready to keep an eye on you, and if necessary, to intervene so you didn't hurt yourself or others in your suspicion. But I could never hate you, Penny, because what happened to make you so hurt and so afraid was my fault.”

     Penny stared at her leader, her thoughts tangled and a torrent of emotions overwhelming her. She had never taken the time, in all of her fear and confusion, to consider how Sunny had been handling her daughter's betrayal. She had been so obsessed with believing that Sunny blamed her that she had never considered the idea that Sunny blamed herself instead. In an instant, all of the suspicion she'd felt for Sunny disappeared. For so long, she would look at Sunny and see only a shadow of Scorch still lingering to haunt her. But now, finally, she could see the tired, grieving mother that so painfully resembled herself. Her noble leader was breaking down in front of her, and somehow, it made her admire Sunny more than ever before.

     She reached out her muzzle, allowing herself a breach of etiquette by touching her nose to her leader's cheek, giving her a soothing lick like a mother would for a kit. “It wasn't your fault.” Sunny glanced at her, seeming surprised, and vulnerable. “I mean it. I was wrong to ever blame you for what Scorch did. I can't speak for your mistakes, or Sniff's, but I understand now that Scorch's choices were Scorch's alone. No one else is to blame for the choices she made. I don't blame you, Sunny, not anymore.” She pulled back. “I hope you can forgive me.”

     Sunny met Penny's gaze, seeming to measure the younger she-cat, before the faintest of purrs seemed to rise from her throat. “Thank you, Penny,” she rasped, her mew deep and sincere. “That means a lot to me. And there's no need to ask forgiveness – you had it already.” She turned and looked away, back out into the town. “You're a great asset to this Society, Penny. I hope you realize just how much we need you – and how glad I am to have you at my side again.”

     Penny glanced at Sunny, touched at her leader's praise. She turned and looked back out over the town, feeling a sense of contentment and ease that she hadn't felt in seasons. Somehow, this moment beside her leader, it felt like a new beginning.

**SCENEBREAK**

     That night, her dreams were filled with light and warmth. At first, there was just colors and flashes of light, and the feeling of a pelt against her own. Then, the world began to grow solid. Soft grass materialized under her paws, and a soft blue sky spread above her head. An achingly familiar scent wrapped around her, and a voice echoed in her ears. “I'm so proud of you, my love.”

     Penny whirled around, bristling with shock. A young, leggy gray tabby stood before her, his pelt blazing with starlight, and his eyes gleaming with love and warmth. Her pelt began to tremble with emotion. She'd thought she would never see this cat again, not until it was time for her to walk beside him in the stars. “Bounce,” she rasped. Grief and joy and disbelief mixed together in her breast, filling her up until she was ready to burst from it all. “Is... is that really you?”

     She lifted her paw as though to step towards him, then held back, hesitating. She wasn't sure if she could handle if he fell apart like mist at her touch, proving to be just something she'd imagined. Bounce didn't wait for her to make up her mind. He closed the distance between them himself, padding forward until their muzzles were whiskers apart. “It's really me,” he confirmed. He brushed his muzzle against Penny's jaw, making her tremble with loss and longing. She closed her eyes, leaning into his touch as he pressed his head against her neck. “I've waited for this moment, my love. I've been watching over you.”

     “Oh Bounce,” Penny breathed. Her legs were growing weak under her, every hair on her pelt quivering with emotion. “I've missed you so much! I've been so lost without you. I... I'm so sorry, I should have saved you, I should have been there, done _something._ ” She pressed her muzzle against his neck, breathing in his scent. “We should have had so much longer together,” she whispered.

     She felt his breath stirring the fur on her neck. “It wasn't your fault, love,” he murmured.

     Penny took a deep breath. “It... it wasn't Scorch's fault either, was it?” She'd been obsessed for so long with the idea of Scorch taking everything from her, she'd been convinced that Scorch must have had a paw in Bounce's death, even though she hadn't been seen in twolegplace in a moon when Bounce had died. But she knew now how paranoid she'd become. It had just been one of her delusions, just like her fear of Sunny.

     “No, it wasn't,” Bounce told her. He pulled back, his green gaze somber as it met hers. “What happened to me was an accident. It was nobody's fault, and there's nothing you could have done by being there.” The tabby sighed. “I've watched you wander in fear and hurt for so long, Penny. I wanted so badly to comfort you, but while your mind was in such darkness, you couldn't see me. But I've always been walking beside you, my love. I've never left your side, not for a moment. The Society of the Stars has been beside you for every step, Penny. Your family has never left you.”

     Penny blinked, surprised. “The Society of the Stars?” she repeated. The ancestors of the Society of the Street were known as the Cats of the Stars. She'd never heard that name for them before.

     “We are still a Society, even when we leave the streets behind,” Bounce told her, an amused gleam in his eyes. “Even with all that we leave behind in life, we never leave that love for each other, that feeling of family, behind.” He reached his muzzle forward, touching his nose to hers. “I want you to know that you will always have the love of your family beside you, even when you seem to walk alone. That is what it means to be in a Society. And I want you to know that I will always be with you, and that I will always love you.”

     Penny closed her eyes, taking in a shuddering breath of her mate's scent. “I love you too, Bounce,” she breathed. After a few moments, she pulled her muzzle away, taking a step back. “But I can't live my life held back by the dead anymore,” she mewed clearly. “I will always love you. But I have to let the living rule my heart now. Peggy needs me, the Society needs me – and I need to live among the living, for my own sake. I never want to be lost to my own grief again.”

     Warmth gleamed in Bounce's eyes. “I don't want that for you either,” he told her. “I'm so proud of you, Penny. You've done so much good for the Society, and you and our daughter will go on to do so much more. I will watch over you always, and even as you move forward, just remember that I love you, and that I'm so proud of what you've achieved.”

     The dream was beginning to dissolve all around Penny. The grass was falling away under her paws, and the blue sky was giving way to a blinding white. Bounce was fading too, though Penny kept her gaze on him until the last. “I'll always remember, Bounce,” she mewed, love and joy in her heart as she held onto his green gaze.

     “And I'll live a life to make your Society and mine proud.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii need to stop staying awake until midnight to finish writing these chapters. Especially now that I have to get up at 6:30 for work every morning. Hahahaha.... *falls over*
> 
> Anywho, here's the newest chapter. This was a fun one to write. While angst and such can be fun to write, it's honestly really nice to explore Penny recovering and working towards a healthier approach to her own life, and just being happier in general. And I've been wanting to write this conversation between her and Sunny for a while.
> 
> So yes, we now have a new rank in the Society, ambassadors. Our first one is Peggy. ^^ We'll hear a bit more about her work in the next (and last) chapter, which might seem a bit obvious where it's going, but then again maybe not. We'll see. ^^ We also get a confirmation that the ancestors of the Society of the Street are called the Society of the Stars, rather than the Cats of the Stars.
> 
> I really wish I'd come up with the former title for them much sooner. Was the scene with Bounce a cheap tactic to sneak in the name I prefer for their ancestors and make it canon? ...Partly, but I also felt it was a good moment for Penny to have, to have her recent actions and attempts to live her life in a healthier way validated. :P
> 
> Anyway, that's about it for this chapter, I'll try to get the next one done soon, there's another project I want to work on, and I really should get some work done on my original writing projects before moving onto the next novella. :P


	10. Chapter Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seasons later...

Warriors Series 5.5: Echoes of the War  
Novella 3: Penny's Faith  
Chapter Nine

     The quiet of the early newleaf morning was broken only by the rustle of leaves as a breeze sent them skittering across the pavement. The sky above was still dark, colored with tinges of pink and red as the sun began to rise. It was too early for even the birds to be singing, and only the odd monster passed by on the street. But one lone figure lay upon a roof, looking out into the street beyond.

     Her tail waved in a slow rhythm behind her as she looked upon the town she called home. The tips of her red-brown fur were stirred by a gentle breeze as it wove past her pelt. It was still chilly out, but the town would warm up as the day wore on. The cold of leafbare was still some moons away. Her Society would be safe from the hunger and misery it brought until then.

     The she-cat closed her eyes, letting out a contented sigh. The moons were starting to wear on her body, but her spirit felt as strong and as proud as ever. Though her days were often busy, she enjoyed taking the odd morning to wake before any other cat and enjoy the peace of a town where no else was awake yet. It was one of the small pleasures in her life.

     Suddenly, a small sound caught her ear. She stiffened, but didn't outwardly react. Instead, she made sure to keep her gaze fixed on the town and her ears forward, while discreetly bunching her muscles underneath her. There was another sound, then another, and they were getting closer. She waited.

     With a yowl, the younger cat sprang at her, but she had already leaped neatly out of the way. The younger cat was sent tumbling. The older cat's whiskers twitched in amusement as the younger cat skidded to a clumsy halt on the roof tiles with a yelp. She picked herself up, shaking her dark golden pelt out and looking at the older cat in bemusement. “No fair,” she grumbled, though her eyes were gleaming merrily. “I was sneaking as silently as I could.”

     “Not silently enough,” the older cat teased.

     The younger cat scoffed. She sat, the older cat mirroring her. “Not enough for you, maybe,” she joked. “You always did have the ears of a bat, Penny. Bet I could've pounced on anyone else without them hearing me.”

     Penny's whiskers twitched. “I'm sure that you could've,” she assured the younger tabby. “But it's not very nice to pounce on old she-cats who are just trying to enjoy having a peaceful morning to themselves, Tamika.”

     “Eh, a bit of a shock now and then is good for you,” Tamika joked, her pale green eyes gleaming with merriment. “I know you like to come up here – I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep, so I figured I'd try to surprise you.” She glanced down, rasping her tongue swiftly over her white chest to try and smooth down the pelt that had been ruffled from tumbling. As she groomed, she told Penny, “By the way, my mothers want to speak with you after their morning rounds. They've got more news about that twoleg nest they've been scouting out.”

     “Good. Tell them that I'll meet them by Peggy's den at sunhigh.” Penny felt a surge of pride as she looked at the younger she-cat. Peggy and Isobel weren't able to have kits of their own, but some moons ago, they had adopted young Tamika, a scrawny stray kitten who had been abandoned by her twolegs. Tamika had been hardened by her time on the street and was slow to trust, but had eventually come to trust and love the pair of she-cats who had taken her in, and was proud to call them her mothers. She had been made a full self-reliant of the Society less than a moon ago. Though Penny didn't share blood with the young she-cat, she felt as much love for her as if they were kin, and was immensely proud of her daughter's daughter.

     “Will do!” Tamika chirped. She was already on her paws, heading back towards the edge of the roof, but she turned back towards Penny as she said, “I'll let you get back to your peaceful morning or whatever – but do you think we could go hunting later?”

     A purr rumbled in Penny's throat. “Of course, my dear. I always have time for you.” Joy lit up in Tamika's eyes. She dipped her head once to Penny, then leaped neatly off the roof, heading out into the streets. Penny watched her go for a few moments. There were times that she missed the reckless energy of youth, but she knew that she'd come so far from her days as a young cat, and she wouldn't give up any of what she had now. And she wasn't that old, not yet anyway. She turned back to the edge of the roof, looking out at the skyline as the sun crept slowly over the twoleg dens.

     Twolegplace had seen many changes in the moons since the first ambassador had been assigned. Cats had come and go, dens had been changed and streets expanded or closed off, the town was always changing. Some of the cats hadn't been ones Penny was sad to see go; after their punishment, Skip had cleaned up his act and redirected his energies into his work as a border guard, but Brindle had gotten fed up with the more accepting mindset of the Society and had left to become a rogue. The tabby she-cat hadn't been seen since she'd left. Penny still wasn't particularly fond of Skip, and liked to keep an eye on him, but he did seem to realize how mouse-brained and prejudiced he'd been as a young cat.

     The Society itself had changed as well. With the work of the ambassadors, the cats of the Society seemed more accepting to Penny now, more understanding of the differences between them, and how those differences didn't make cats any better or worse. Some of the laws of the Code of the Street had changed over time, to try and reflect the changing mindset of the Society. A visiting patrol from the Clans, who had come to reunite Scorch's kits with her kin, had also had its impact on the Society and how they saw the world. Penny knew the Society would never be exactly like the Clans, and the differences between them weren't a bad thing, but she had personally been very glad to meet the cats from the stories she'd heard ever since she was a kit. It was good to learn about other cats and how they lived – they could only become more accepting by learning about the different ways that cats could live.

     With a contented sight, Penny looked out into the town she called home, a purr rumbling in her throat. The Society and the town might have changed over the moons, but it was still the home that she loved, and she was as happy as ever serving her Society.

**SCENEBREAK**

     Isobel and Peggy were both waiting for her at Peggy’s den when Penny arrived. The nest was larger now - Peggy and Isobel divided their time between sleeping at her twoleg’s den and sleeping at Peggy’s nest. Tamika had her own nest now that she was a self-reliant, but she still always found time to spend with her mothers.

     “Good, you’re here,” Peggy mewed. Penny purred as she touched noses with her daughter, then with Isobel. “We wanted to talk to you about Midna’s den.”

     Penny’s ears flicked forward with interest. “The kittypet whose twoleg leaves out food?”

     “That’s the one,” Isobel conformed. The cream kittypet had been accepted as an ambassador of the Society the newleaf after her mate. Though she had never given up her home with her twoleg or her place as a kittypet, she did as much work patrolling the nearby neighborhoods and improving communication between the Society and outsiders as any other ambassador. There had been some initial protest against declaring a kittypet as a member of the Society, but Isobel had been quick to prove that she didn’t need to live outside or hunt for her own prey to work hard for the Society’s benefit. In the three newleafs since then, a few kittypets had been accepted as healers in the Society, and one served as a border guard.

     “Momo and I spent a few days checking it out,” Peggy explained. Penny flicked an ear at the mention of Peggy’s fellow ambassador, but didn’t interrupt. “Midna was telling the truth. Every night, her twoleg leaves out multiple bowls filled with dry kittypet food. Midna took a few bites in front of us, and then Momo and I both had some - it’s perfectly safe. Her twoleg talks to the strays that come to eat, and sometimes he tries to pet them, but if you back away he seems to get the message, because he’ll leave you alone after that. I think it should be fine to let the Society know that this is a safe source of food, if any of them are in the area.”

     Penny narrowed her eyes. “What if too many cats show up?” she asked. “We don’t want this twoleg freaking out if more and more cats start appearing at his door every night.”

     “We can set a limit,” Peggy suggested. “Maybe only ten cats at a time? Midna didn’t seem to think it’d be a problem, but she promised to let us know if her twoleg was starting to act weird about it at all.”

     Penny mulled over her daughter’s words, then gave a small nod. “Very well. I’ll let the Council talk it over tonight. With leafbare coming up, it would be great to have another source of food for our cats to take advantage of.”

     “There’s something else,” Isobel mewed. “Some of the other kittypets told me that Aggie and her house folk have moved away to another twolegplace. The house folk that live at that den now don’t have a kittypet. I checked out their den, and it looks like they’ve been setting traps in the garden. I’d let your cats know that it doesn’t look safe to hunt or forage there right now.”

     Alarm pricked at Penny's pelt. “I'll definitely do that – the last thing we need right now is cats getting captured. We can have the trainees send a message out to the rest of the Society. Keep an eye on things at that den, but don't go getting yourself caught in the process.”

     Isobel's whiskers twitched. “It doesn't matter much if they do catch me,” she pointed out. “As long as I'm wearing my collar, they'll know I'm a kittypet and to bring me back to my house folk. Better me getting caught than any other ambassadors.”

     “Still, don't take any unnecessary risks,” Peggy mewed. She brushed her muzzle against Isobel's, purring loudly. “I don't want to have to come rushing in to save you.”

     “It's more likely I'd have to save you, fluffbrain,” Isobel teased. A purr escaped Penny at the sight of her daughter and her mate, still joking and flirting like kits with a crush. “But I'll be careful, I promise.”

     “Glad to hear it,” Penny mewed. The she-cats both turned back to look at Penny. “I just want to say, I'm so proud of both of you. You're doing such great work for the Society these days... and you've done a great job raising Tamika.” Her whiskers twitched. “She visited me this morning – she's a good cat, though her stalking could use a bit of work.”

     “Yeah, but sneaking up on you is a challenge for any cat,” Peggy teased. “I remember when I was a kit, you'd dodge every time I tried to pounce at you from behind. Even Bounce couldn't sneak up on you – he used to joke you had the brains, the skills, and the freaky good hearing, and he had the charm and the looks.”

     Penny's whiskers twitched at the memory. As always, the thought of Bounce always brought that little twinge of grief, but it had gotten smaller and smaller over the moons, and it always helped to remember the good times they'd had. “And he always said that you inherited the best from both of us,” she mewed fondly, reaching out to touch her nose to Peggy's ear. She could hear her daughter's answering purr rumbling in her throat. “I've got to get back to the Council now, but come find me if anything else comes up.” She added in a friendly mew, “And let me know if you two want to go hunting sometime.”

     “Will do,” Peggy mewed in a bright purr. With a final flick of her tail, Penny turned and padded away, leaving the pair behind her.

**SCENEBREAK**

     The trainees were out in front of the Council Home with a few of the Council cats when Penny arrived. She called out in a friendly mew, flicking her tail as she approached. “How goes training?” she asked.

     “Good,” Opal answered. The tortoiseshell was accompanied by Coraline and Eclipse, two of the younger members of the Council. “We've been drilling them on climbing and foraging this morning.”

     A tortoiseshell trainee bounded up to Opal's side. “I climbed to the roof of the Council Home!” Glitter boasted, amber eyes glittering with excitement. Opal gazed down at the tortoiseshell with a fond expression. Glitter and her brothers, Taffy and Thatch, were Opal's kits with her mate Sykes. The toms were hanging back with the other trainees, Splinter and Dwala, who were both older than Opal's litter.

     “They all did very well today,” Eclipse mewed. The tortoiseshell she-cat was one of the newest Council recruits, along with the pale gray tabby, Skyline, who sat beside her with his tail curled around his paws. “We were going to send them off to hunt for the elders soon.”

     Penny gave an approving nod. “Good. Are the rest of the Council inside the den?”

     “I think most of them are in,” Skyline mewed. “Tawny and Specklefur went hunting earlier, and Beetle said he wanted to go for a walk.”

     “Thanks.” Penny turned and padded towards the den's entrance, leaving the Council members and trainees to their work. She had to squint as she stepped into the den due to the low lighting, but when her eyes adjusted, she was able to see who was still in the den.

     Sunbeam was grooming herself in her nest, her pelt becoming coarse with age. Theodosia and Coraline were working together to clean out the nests, replacing the old moss with new stuff. They all looked up when Penny entered the den. “Oh good, you're back,” Theodosia mewed, leaving the moss behind to approach the older she-cat. “The trainees were asking whether you'd be back to supervise their hunting training later tonight.”

     “I wasn't gone that long,” Penny pointed out, whiskers twitching with amusement. “But yes, I'll tell them that I'll definitely be around for that.” Theodosia gave a brief nod. Penny paused at the she-cat's gesture; every time she looked at the tortoiseshell, she was stuck by just how much Theodosia reminded her of her mother. Her pelt was lighter and her eyes were blue rather than her mother's yellow, but the shape of her head, and the way she moved and spoke, reminded Penny very strongly of Angelica.

     Angelica had reached out to apologize to Penny after the meeting all those moons ago, and though Penny's work with the Council kept her busy, she and Angelica met up at times and became friends over the moons. Angelica had a litter with another kittypet, and while most of her kits remained kittypets, her daughter Theodosia had left to join the Society as soon as she was old enough. She had inherited her mother's strong sense of justice, and her stubbornness and desire to help others. Penny had watched her progress through the ranks of the Society, and had been as proud of Theodosia when she'd joined the Council as though she was her own kit.

     Coraline's mew broke through Penny's thoughts. “We've cleaned through most of the nests, including yours. The fresh-kill pile is getting a bit empty, though. We'll need more for tonight if we're all going to eat.” The black she-cat wasn't as tiny as her mother Soot was, nor did she have Hubcap's bulk or height. She was small, but not tiny, with a lithe frame. But the white on her chest, paws, and face, and the pale green of her eyes, proved that she had inherited plenty from her parents.

     “Skyline told me that Tawny and Specklefur went hunting, so they should bring more back with them,” Penny informed her. “But if we need more, I'll go out myself. I already told Tamika I'd go out with her later, I'm sure we can find enough to bring back to the den.” Coraline blinked gratefully at the older she-cat. Penny gave a small nod of acknowledgment, then turned her gaze to sweep around the den, pausing as she realized what was missing. “Wait. Where's Rusty?”

     “Up here!” Before Penny could even look up, the ginger tabby leaped down from the rafters, her flame-colored pelt spotted with dust and a cobweb or two. “It's been getting too dusty up there, so I thought I'd do a bit of cleaning.” Her gray eyes were bright as she gazed down at the shorter she-cat.

     Penny's whiskers twitched. “Good thinking. I think a fair bit of it ended up in your fur, though,” she teased. The ginger she-cat was still young and sometimes goofy, but she still reminded Penny strongly of her father Blink. Rusty had been named after Blink's ancestor, Firestar, whose connection with Blink had been discovered when the Clan patrol had visited.

     Rusty shrugged. She shook out her pelt, sending the dirt flying, drawing a surprised cry from Coraline. “Eh, as long as it's not falling down on us while we're trying to sleep, it's worth it.” She glanced up, adding, “There was quite a collection of it over your nest, and you've been coughing a bit lately. I figured cleaning up the dirt around here might help with that.” She reached out a paw to nudge Penny's shoulder, teasing, “We don't need our mighty leader losing any lives from a lungful of dust and cobwebs!”

     The leader of the Society purred, pride glowing in her chest. “That was very thoughtful of you, Rusty,” she mewed. “I'm sure I'll be able to sleep more easily tonight.” She stretched out her front limbs, her jaws splitting in a yawn. “I got up early this morning, and if I'm going hunting tonight, I think I could do with a nap. Wake me when the trainees get back from hunting.”

     “Will do,” Coraline purred. Penny retreated to her nest, curling up into a tight ball. As she closed her eyes, she let her mind wander.

     She had been leader of the Society for over a year, ever since Sunny had retired. Penny had gone to the Moonstone to gain her nine lives, and had been accepted by both the Council and the Society of the Stars as the new leader of the Society. Sunny had only been given a few moons of rest in the elder's den before being called away by the Society of the Stars. Penny missed her leader every day, but she knew that Sunny was at peace with her family now, and she was still honored by Sunny's suggestion that she be the one to take her place as leader of the Society.

     So much had changed in the four newleafs since the truce with the kittypets. After Scorch's attack, Penny had been filled with so much anger and hurt, but the support of her friends and loved ones had allowed her to let those things go. She had learned to trust again, to find joy in her life of serving the Society, and now she stood as their leader. Even having lost her parents, and her mate, and many of the friends she'd once known, Penny was happy with her life, because she trusted in those who walked beside her, and she knew that those she lost were never truly gone. Even now, as she shifted in her nest, she could feel the warmth of Bounce's pelt pressed against her own, and the sound of Sunny's purr. She even thought she could catch a hint of Sushi's scent.

     Scorch no longer haunted Penny's nightmares. The treacherous she-cat had gone to walk with the Society of the Shadows with Scourge and her other murderous ancestors seasons ago, only a few moons after her exile. But even before the Clan patrol had brought news of Scorch's death, Penny had no longer been haunted by her, because she had learned to let go of the hate and fear that Scorch had taught her. She had learned to trust once more in the cats and the code that she had believed in so strongly, and her love for her Society and her family had brought her peace. All she could ask for now was as many moons as possible to continue serving her Clan, until her time came to walk with Bounce among the stars once more.

     With those thoughts still in her mind, Penny drifted off into sleep, the scent of her loved ones following her into her dreams.

END OF NOVELLA THREE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Oprah voice* And YOU get a reference, and YOU get a reference, EVERYBODY gets a reference!!!!! *cough* Yeah, once again, I take any opportunity to squeeze as many names that are references to characters from other media as possible. Also, we're at the end of Penny's Faith here, I hope you enjoyed it. ^^
> 
> So yeah, here we learn that Penny herself is now leader of the Society of the Street. :D I think I might have had that in mind even when I first thought of Penny's character, but I never quite imagined how big of a character Penny would end up becoming, or how much of an impact she had on the story.
> 
> We also learn that the Society's version of the Dark Forest is called the Society of the Shadows. I think it works well with the other names - Society of the Stars, Society of the Street, Society of the Shadows. They're all S's, and I think they all fit well. ^^ Scourge and Scorch are both confirmed residents of the Society of the Shadows, as is Bone. :P
> 
> There were a lot of new cats mentioned this chapter, so I think it's fair to list their descriptions here:
> 
> TAMIKA - dark golden tabby she-cat with pale green eyes and a white chin, chest, and paws (named after Tamika Flynn from the podcast Welcome to Night Vale, because I just got back into Night Vale and wanted to spread some Night Vale love, and also because Tamika is awesome, the line about Peggy and Isobel flirting like kids with a crush might've been a reference to the episode Toast as well)  
> MOMO - brown-and-white tom with yellow eyes, ambassador (named after Momo the flying lemur from Avatar: The Last Airbender because that show is amazing)  
> MIDNA - black she-cat with green eyes, kittypet (named after Midna from the video game The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess because that's one of my favorite Zelda games and Midna is my favorite Zelda character ever)  
> AGGIE - light brown tabby she-cat with yellow eyes, kittypet (named after Aggie the "witch" from ParaNorman, because I freaking love that movie, and I figured if I was making a Coraline reference I might as well throw a ParaNorman reference in there too)  
> ECLIPSE - tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes (named after how her black-and-orange pelt looks like the black moon blotting out the orange sun during an eclipse, not really after any characters or anything)  
> GLITTER - tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with amber eyes (named after her mother, since Opals are glittery, and Glitter looks like her mother)  
> TAFFY - light brown-and-white tabby tom with hazel eyes (named after a toy I've had since I was a very young child, and I thought the name sounded cool)  
> THATCH - brown tabby tom with amber eyes and a white-snipped chest (named after his brown pelt)  
> SPLINTER - skinny gray tabby tom with green eyes (named after his natural skinny-ness, he's oriental)  
> DWALA - cream tabby she-cat with a white chest and paws and yellow eyes (named after the deleted character from the Lion King, I wanted at least one Lion King name since I'm referencing everything else I love, also she's Bright's granddaughter)  
> SKYLINE - pale gray tabby tom with amber eyes (named after the skyline in the town, and because it sounds cool)  
> THEODOSIA - pale tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with blue eyes (named after Theodosia Burr who is named in Hamilton: An American Musical, because the name is very pretty and I figured Angelica's kit should also be named after a Hamilton character)  
> CORALINE - small, lithe black she-cat with with a white marking on her chest/throat, white front paws and black legs, chin, forehead snip, tail-tip, and pale green eyes, Council member, daughter of Soot and Hubcap (named after the titular main character from the book and movie Coraline, because I love that movie and the name sounds cool, and a black cat features heavily in the movie so it felt fitting)  
> RUSTY - flame-colored tabby she-cat with gray eyes (named after Firestar, as stated in the chapter, she's nearly identical to Firestar in build and pelt color, other than her gray eyes, which she got from her father).
> 
> Whew, I think that's all of them. There's also all of the cats mentioned to have died since the last chapters:
> 
> Tire was led to the Society of the Stars by her mother Lark.  
> Flash was led to the Society of the Stars by his mate Tire.  
> Sunny was led to the Society of the Stars by her mother Sushi.
> 
> Well, I think that about wraps up Penny's Faith. I'm so proud of how far my story, and my characters and Society, have come, and I think this is a good way to end things for the Society. I do have more novellas planned, but they're going to be fairly Clan-centric. Also, you might have to wait a while before the next one (though hopefully not another year), as I have other projects I want to work on first. So for now, thank you all for reading and reviewing, and I'll see you all again when I start on the next novella. ^^


End file.
